Change of Heart
by miarath
Summary: What do you get if you mix vampires and mutants? Right, chaos and possible disaster. For Zero it changed his whole world in the end, almost destroyed it but there is hope as long there is life, right? Yuki x Zero x Kaname AU Crossover with X-Men - COMPLETE
1. Cold

**Change of Heart **

by Miarath

I planned it to be in the same AU as 'Where the Tiger Lilies grow' and 'Darkest Salvation' were but I got carried away --

and well, now, they're only loosely connected.

Oh, yes, it's a crossover with X-Men the movie, well sort of.

It's AU in that way that I mixed part movie and part comics. Timeline for VK is at the end or shortly after the end of volume four  
but some things happened differently. So, this is AU for volume five.

**Pairings:** It's mostly about Yuki x Zero. There are some others but you've got to find out by yourself. ;-) Oh, I really like the love triangle, but that's all I give you as a hint. :D

_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own either Vampire Knight or X-Men, nor do I make I any profit with this one.  
Vampire Knight belongs to Matsuri Hino and X-Men to Marvel I think.

That's all I'm saying.

And this little story is only for fun and nothing else.

So, on with the story and have fun!

* * *

Cold

It was an ordinary day with class as usually and I had, of course, my prefect duty to do but things were very different than they were supposed to be. At least that's how it felt to me.

I shivered and pulled my jacket closer for comfort. I was the same and -- Cross Academy looked as least on the outside the same as before but -- Zero was not.

_It was scary, it really was. I mean he wasn't the same, hadn't been the same since days or is it already months?_ Yeah, I know Zero looks the same; he walks the same way as always but he didn't act like Zero, not like my Zero; and most important -- he's not by my side.

It feels like I've already lost him. Lost him somewhere between yesterday and today, then and now. I swallowed; I tried to swallow the sadness down, only partly succeeding but how could I when such a big part of myself was missing?

"_I miss you."_ I murmured. "_Zero, where are you_?"

Before this thing happened he was closed up and sometimes really rude, but now? Now, it's like I don't know him anymore - and I hardly see him.

I saw him discussing something with Kaname-senpai, in a normal casual non-threatening way, which the old Zero would have never done so.

No, Zero really had changed and I had enough proof. One, he was not arguing with Kaname-senpai, neither was he glaring at him. Something I know, I had wished for before; for Zero and Kaname to go along, only I hadn't imaged it under such circumstances.

But there's more, he's smiling at Aido and Shiki, joking around with them, which the Zero I've known would've never done. True, at first he hadn't done this but it seemed that both Aido and Shiki could make him smile, something which filled me with a feeling of envy, jealousy? I didn't know but I knew that I had always longed to see him smile but I had wanted to be the one to make him smile, smile like he did now.

The Zero I've known, he had hated vampires with fervour and wouldn't laugh and smile with them. I shuddered. True, he's not ignoring me. Actually, he's a lot nicer to me than before. He's smiling at me too -- but he felt like a stranger now, someone I didn't know at all or how to act and talk to. The Zero I knew had been afraid that the vampire-side of his would devour him, which I think had happened in a way only not like we both had expected it for he hadn't turned Level E but he's certainly more vampire than before.

What happened to the Zero I knew?

No, I know what happened, but that makes it none the less scary to me.

The worst thing is the gaze he keeps giving Yagari-sensei every time during class change; it's chilling. I shivered unconsciously. I mean he had been his childhood sensei, hadn't he been? Zero had called him master after all but now he's calling him Yagari-sensei like the rest of us. No, it's not that he's showing any hatred towards him but he's so formal - so perfectly well mannered as you could only wish for. Zero's treating Yagari like a stranger, like he had never known him before, and Yagari-sensei did the same, I noticed.

It's like he had changed sides, hadn't he? More so, he had switched class. Something, I thought, he would never do on his own free will; at least not in this lifetime.

But he had -- and it's like he now truly had become one of them and wasn't struggling anymore but I couldn't be sure. His eyes, they still looked haunted whenever he thought nobody was looking. Grief, it's grief what I could see in his eyes and knowledge, I guess it was the latter which kept him away from me for most of the time; both, him and Kaname-senpai.

I shook my shoulders. "Forget it Yuki, you can't make it undone. You can't turn back time."

I sniffled, trying to keep tears from coming. "Why could I not simply turn back time?" I knew that was impossible but right now that was all I could be thinking about, to make it undone. It _was_ foolish -- but it would make my world whole again … and return Zero to my side.

Well, I cannot, nobody can but this was all so unfair and Zero…

Zero, he was now wearing white, night class white.

"White … this had all begun with white, lively strong white but it became tainted by red until it was gone." I remembered the strangling dread of that night and shivered in response. No, that had not been the beginning but it had been the last drop, the one, which made the boat sink. Yes, I remember that night well, it was just two weeks ago but it felt like eternity to me.

Sometimes this felt like a dream, I wished it were to be a dream cause if it were a dream I could wake from it and find out that this never happened, but it wasn't a dream --

_And wishes weren't horses, sadly._

"Yuki?" I heard a voice, calling me back from my dark thoughts.

I turned around. "It's Yori," I noticed and tried to smile a little, at least for her. She was looking like always. "No," I thought, "Yori hadn't changed." Yori was the same and by my side. I managed to smile thinking about this. There was still light even if it was small but it was there.

"Yes?" I reply. I barely recognized my own voice, for it was so weak.

"You okay?" She asked softly with her brows slightly raised in concern. Wonderful Yori, she was always there when I needed someone. She was a real friend, but should I burden her with this? My longing for something gone, my sadness, no, I thought, she didn't deserve this.

"Just peachy," I whispered. No, I couldn't bear lying to her. No, not about this in general, not this part where I didn't had to. Yori didn't answer though; no, instead she pulled me into a hug and I broke down. I finally managed to cry, cry tears I had caged so long but had been unable to cry. Suddenly all my strength had left me; left me weak and hurting in her arms.

_So bad, my heart, it hurts so much, Yori. _

"I am cold," I murmured. Why had everything become so cold, so distant? And Yori felt so good, so warm and comfortable. I don't know but it felt like I stayed for an eternity like this in Yori's arms but I finally let go.

"W-When did it all go so wrong, Yori?"

"I don't know, Yuki." I heard her whisper in return. "But it is a mad world, is it not?" I felt her running her hands through my, trying to sooth me. It helped, not much but it felt good.

"Yes, it is." I agreed. "Everyone's becoming mad Yori. How's this going to end?" I was not only hurting but scared too. "I'm scared … of this world."

"I-I know." Yori said slowly. Was there a tremble in her voice, too?

"Cause I'm too." She added with a little more fervour. "They're all crazy, Yuki. There's nothing else to call this… madness. They're all madmen … I'm terrified Yuki."

"They are … mad --" I replied and tried to smile but failed miserably. "And we can't do anything about it." I sighed in defeat but was angry with myself all of a sudden. There had to be something we could do! I know it must have shown on my face cause Yori gave me a curious glance but I simply shrugged it off. I couldn't help myself, how was I supposed to help others?

"It's okay, Yori. We …" I looked at my watch. Math was next, and we would need to hurry.

"Yori," I said a little louder, "we should hurry! We've class in five minutes."

"Oh! You're right. Wouldn't miss math." She agreed half joking and half seriously. Truly we had both too much of an issue with math that they could afford missing class.

"Then come on!"

We fell into a slight run and reached class just in time. Math was boring like usually but I managed to only doze off once, today. Actually, I was quite proud of it. I'm becoming better in this. In the past I usually ended up sleeping for most of his class, which the teacher didn't find amusing at all, naturally.

So, this was a good thing, after all? I mean since Zero left Day Class.

"Um, Yuki?" It was Yori again.

"Yes?" I replied slowly, looking up to Yori. I had left the building and leaned now against the fence, watching the horses on the other side grazing. On the other side was it, the place were riding class always was. I didn't felt like riding, not since that night but today there was no riding class, thankfully and I was off to my own thoughts.

"You're going to be all right?" She questioned.

"Yes, no. Ah, I just need some time." I replied and I know my voice must have sounded far away because of the way Yori was knitting her brows.

"Truly?"

"Yes, it's okay." I shook my head, feeling slightly annoyed but I put myself together. Yori didn't deserve anything but gratitude.

"I just need some time alone. That's all."

Yori gave me a long look-over and nodded finally. "Okay."

Yori had left and I was back to my thoughts. "This was Zero's favourite place," I thought dimly while giving the place a closer look. He had been right here when Lily bolted and thrown me up, right here. I've never seen him here again since that time nor had he been in the stables. Actually the latter was better this way because since that day something else has changed, something, which made the other horses shy away from him. This was new, too, for it hadn't happened before that day, strangely.

I was zoning out, I knew but I did nothing to stop it, could not. Maybe I wanted to remember it; maybe I needed to remember it. At least nobody had taken this from me, this memory. I smiled as I was being pulled back, a few months ago. A few months ago, everything had been okay until one morning something changed. Only, it had been something rather ordinary, which I never would have guessed to be the beginning of the end, in a way.

Zero and I had been invited to have breakfast with father like we he often did. We both loved these days because during breakfast father didn't have us trying out his newest creations of his cooking like on dinner. I mean, yes, he did mean it well but some of these things he had us eating were just weird. So, now I was already sitting at the table but I couldn't stop myself from glancing towards the window, or rather to the table next to it. The table had been empty yesterday but there stood a TV set now. Just a TV, but it felt so weirdly out of place here with all what happened the last few days back then. With that woman, this Shizuka Hio and these men, these vampires who wanted Zero dead for killing Shizuka, which I knew he wasn't guilty of. So, this was a nice exception in our strange life, something normal, something ordinary.

"Father…" I began but was interrupted by Zero, who'd just walked into the room and stared wide-eyed at the TV, just like I had minutes ago.

"Where did you get that?" That was so Zero, speaking things out loud like this - but I had wanted to ask the same thing actually.

"Oh, that?" Father answered with slightly raised brows and a mischievous glint in his eyes, gesturing towards the TV. "Yagari-san gave this to me, saying I need to know a little more about what's going on in our world." He walked over to it and took its remote control and walked back to us.

"Yagari-sensei did this?" Zero replied sounding even more surprised than he had been by seeing this here.

"Oh, yes, he did." Father chuckled and put it on, using the remote control in his right hand and shrugged. "Seriously, I think he just wants it here, so he can watch soccer." Father sat down and motioned towards the table. "But now, please sit down and let's enjoy breakfast, shall we?"

We sat there just like this, eating in silence with our eyes glued to this flickering and noisy thing. Okay, I was just as curious and interested as Zero and father but I thought father would be too conservative to have something like this during breakfast. I guess I was wrong. I glanced back at the TV and from there to father and back to Zero, who watched it with a very curious expression. He looked so cute then, I thought and chuckled.

"What?" Zero frowned at me, knitting his brows too. Um, when he did that his looks reminded me somehow of a cute little thundercloud, all dark silver, grumbling and a little bit scary.

"Um, nothing Zero." I tried to refrain from laughing out loud then; I really did but I guess I wasn't all that successful cause he continued staring at me.

"Zero?"

"You didn't just laugh about me, did you?" He whispered and stopped eating for a moment.

"Um…"

"You did. I knew it." He growled and went back to eating breakfast, concentrating deeply in eating his toast and inducing into tea trance, too; so in other words: ignoring me.

"But you were so cute." I muttered to myself but he turned and stared at me even more intensely. "Darn, he heard me," I thought; but now I couldn't look away, not from these eyes; I never could for they were so full of emotion. I think we must have stayed like this for a rather long while, not saying anything to each other.

I jerked around when someone tipped me on my shoulder, father. "Darn, what had just happened?" I wondered and I think we must have made a very strange face at that cause father gave us one of his strange little smiles, saying he knew more than we thought. What?

"Ah, it's just a TV, come do me a favour and stop these little childish games, would you?" Father interrupted us, reminding us to continue eating.

"Oh, yes." I answered and heard Zero murmuring a yes too, or something like that.

So, this was our first breakfast with us watching TV and it shouldn't be the last morning like this but the next few time father insisted of having it off, saying it would distract us from eating a proper breakfast.

So, I think Zero and I were more than a little surprised to find it on a few days later. I don't know what did make him do it, but I remember this one morning very clearly.

I shivered when I saw the news from the USA. "Mutants?" I thought; I'd have heard of this term somewhere before but I remembered it only dimly. I had more important things to deal with like keeping Night Class' secret secret. So, there were people with special abilities out there and they were talking about registering them. It sounded wrong; people shouldn't need to be registered, so wrong. People being different shouldn't be a reason to hate them; yet … they obviously did.

"Father?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, my Yuki-chan?" He replied with a soft smile.

"Why do they need a cure?" I asked the next best thing that came into my mind. "They weren't looking ill. Father?" No, the people shown on TV looked healthy enough even if most of them were looking a little strange.

"Yuki," he said softly and sighed. "Think of it, how would you feel if you were suddenly different from anybody else?"

"Afraid, I guess I would be afraid, afraid of being shunned by my friends." I answered his question and sighed. "But I am not exactly normal. I mean most of my friends aren't too. I doubt they would be freaked out if I were one, a mutant I mean."

He chuckled warmly. "I guess that's right. But Yuki-chan, you answered your own question."

"They are afraid, aren't they? Afraid of others being afraid of them." I murmured thoughtfully.

"Yes, you're right … and fear leads to anger…" He mused.

"And anger to hatred. I know, Yoda, I know. I've watched that movie at least a dozen times." I snorted, feeling slightly annoyed by his antics. Father was sometimes such a child but I love him and it was cute, sometimes.

"But it's true, Yuki-chan. It's real wisdom."

"Yeah, I guess it is." I agreed, knowing that he wouldn't accept anything less when he was like this.

"And it's definitely enough for today." Father replied and turned the TV off. "I have some office work to do, Yuki-chan. I'll see you two later." He smiled and left us alone.

"He's right you know, Yuki." Zero said to me, between bites of his toast. "Everything that has even the possibility of being more powerful than them will make the mob cry for blood." He smirked a little at his last word. But I could see he had been thinking about these recent events too. "But they're wrong about them. I mean, even if some of them are dangerous they aren't monsters unlike …" He trembled and went silent.

"Unlike vampires?" He stared at me for a moment then nodded.

"Unlike vampires they don't need to drink peoples blood. They aren't … predators, beasts." His voice sounded suddenly so forlorn. _Oh, Zero._

"You're not a beast, Zero!" I protested and swallowed down a lump. "And you're wrong about vampires in general, too."

"Am I not!" He objected and pouted at me. In return I poked him into the ribs. Zero could be such thickhead most of the time. I pulled him closer, holding his jacket by its revers that he had to look into my eyes.

"I won't give up on you, not ever. So please stop this … this… You're not a monster, Zero!"

Zero sighed. "But I feel like one, Yuki. I did this." He gestured towards my neck, where I wore a plaster now. Zero had been right the bandage had been too noticeable and the plaster almost disappeared beneath my blouse.

"Zero? Please trust me in this. You are not a monster, ever!" I said very seriously, speaking every word loudly and slowly. I hoped he would understand eventually.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, I am sure Zero." I smiled at this. _Why had he to be always like this?_ But that was just Zero and then my heart skipped a beat -- cause I caught him smiling, that cute half-smile of his. He looked gorgeous when he did that and right now he was giving me one of his best.

"Zero," I whispered.

"Yuki, thank you."

I just smiled back just then. "Come lets do what father suggested. It's almost time for class."

"Sure."

We sat in silence for another moment or two, just like this. Somehow, I was reluctant to let go of him; just like he would slip away if I let go, silly me.

"I doubt this will happen to vampires, Yuki." He said suddenly.

"What?"

"I said that this, thing what it's happening to mutants won't happen to vampires. At least I'm quite sure about this. Vampires have been hidden from humanity for what, thousands of years, haven't they? I doubt they would be found out so easily." He smirked at the last sentence.

"I hope you're right," I said, nodding thoughtfully. "It won't be pleasurable if it would happen." I shuddered slightly. No, I prayed it would never come to this.

"You can say that again." He swallowed uneasily for a moment. "Yuki, I might hate them but I'm not that foolish." He gave my hand a pad and looked up to the clock on the right wall. "Let's eat up."

I stifled a yawn and nodded. Zero was right; we should finish breakfast. I was still hungry and there was little time left until we had to go to class. I sat down again and went back to breakfast.

We went to class and ended in detention once again, for being late and sleeping during class.

Other than that everything was normal - as usual.

Then there was another news report on the other day. I had just come back from class and intended to grab something to eat before I started my duty as prefect. This time it was from the US senate, they were debating about mutant laws and if and how they could control them. And worse they actually were debating on using this cure to defend against mutants.

This time I stopped eating. I wasn't hungry anymore. A government, which was seriously debating something that sounded more like a witch-hunt than anything else to me, that couldn't be a good one. "They're really serious about this," I wondered.

I swallowed. They have mutants - and we vampires. The latter still unknown to the public, but what… I couldn't help to remember the things father had said about the war between vampires and humans. There wasn't one right now, but if people from the Hunter Association changed their minds after seeing this? I trembled; no, I didn't wanted to think of this but it kept my thoughts spinning.

"What happens if this…?" I pointed towards the TV. "If this happens to vampires?" I pointed out, suddenly overwhelmed by the dread of this thought.

Father swallowed and sighed. "It won't happen Yuki. Believe me, vampires have been hidden far longer then these … mutants and they are better at it, too."

"But what if it does?" I couldn't help but feel worried. I didn't want my home to become a battlefield. Who sane person would like that?

"Then we fight." He said grimly. "I won't let my dream of peace being destroyed, by anyone."

I hardly recognized him, for I mean he was usually kind and softhearted and I could hardly believe he had been really a hunter once upon a time. But he had been and moments like this made me remember it. There was a core of steel under all his fluffy softness.

So, that was that about mutants - and least that was I had thought then.

And no it's not that I had never heard about them, but we are rather far off from the world here at Cross Academy and things far away do slip easily out of our thoughts. I guess that's what father had in mind, to keep us away from too much publicity but it made us also more than a bit coddled up. I had never thought of Cross Academy this way, but it was kind of an ivory tower for us.

So, I think I was a little bit shocked when I came to father's office the next day and heard a voice that was not his; a voice I never had heard before.

Father wasn't alone.

"You'd better keep her safe, Kurosu-san." I heard; the voice was really blunt and had a slight foreign accent to it.

"She'll be safe." Father reassured, but I could hear a slight anxiety in his voice as he raised his voice to ask for his visitor's name.

"Logan-san is enough." The voice grumbled. It was definitely a man's voice.

He didn't sound like anyone I had ever heard before - and he spoke Japanese very fluently although with a rather odd accent. I couldn't place it; it sounded ancient. More like someone out of our history books would speak than an actual living person. I noticed it also being very rough.

No, this wasn't a person I ever wanted to cross whatsoever. Judging by his voice, he was no one you'd wish for your enemy. I don't know exactly why, but I kept still and didn't enter father's office, curiosity possible. Instead I leaned against the wall and continued listening.

"Logan!" A third voice objected, a girl. "Stop talking as if I'm not here."

"Whatever." He muttered in return, followed by a grunt of pain or annoyance. The girl must have slapped him or something, hard.

"I still don't know what Chuck thought of sending you here, Rogue."

"Ah, I think he knew, I just need some space, Logan." The girl muttered. "And he knew that I wanted to see the world, travelling, you know."

"Yeah, sure."

"And it's Marie now." She added slightly snappish.

"Whatever."

"Ehm?" Father interrupted. I could almost see his raised eyebrows. I was suddenly squirming. Oh, yes I was dying of curiosity then.

"Oh, all right." Logan acknowledged and swallowed. "Right, and you can come in, too."

I froze in space. He had opened the door and was looking directly at me, fixating me with his grey eyes. Who was this man that he could look through half closed doors or how did he knew I was here?

"Yep, you girl, you can come in." He repeated his words and it was clearly an order. An order I didn't feel like disobeying. "No," I shivered slightly. This man was almost as scary as any vampire I have seen before. So I walked slowly into the office, not quite knowing what was awaiting me.

"Yuki?" Father asked and sighed. "Logan-san, Marie-san this is my daughter Yuki-san."

"Logan-sama, Marie-san?" I nodded; father hadn't said anything about her surname so I went with Marie. She was bit taller than me and she was looking older, too. "It's her eyes," I thought. "It's like she'd seen too much already." I took another look, yes, I'd seen right there were bangs of white in her hair but she couldn't be much older than me.

"It's Logan-san." He muttered.

"All right," I agreed; what else could I do?

"Yuki-san, Marie-san here is joining you in class." Father explained. "She will be staying as transfer student for a few month'."

"So, you're a transfer student?" I asked, now even more curious. "What'll you be, Day Class or Night Class?" I couldn't help wishing she would be Day Class, for somehow I felt like I could like her and if she'd be Night Class there would be little time to talk. Besides we didn't need another vampire, as we had enough to do as it was. The ones we have were hard enough to keep in check. Ehem, I'm beginning to think like Zero - but it was true, at least partly. Well, it was mostly because of Aido-senpai and Kain-senpai that we had so much to do.

"Day Class, Yuki-chan." Father was smiling - no wait he was beaming. "She's going to join Day Class."

I sighed with relief. "At least something normal for a change." I thought and remembered that he had asked for me to visit his office, earlier.

"You wanted to speak me, headmaster?"

"Ah, yes I do. Well, it was about this." He gestured towards this girl, Marie. "I want you to give her a short introduction into Cross Academy. The basics, you know?" He gave me one of his serious looks. I knew then that there was something not so quite normal to come than I had first thought. _This is important to him._

"That's all?" I couldn't help smiling feeling happy for his trust in me.

"Yep, Yuki-chan, it is." Father returned my smile, grinning but turned serious after another moment. "Yuki?"

"Yes, headmaster?" I asked, feeling now even more curious about this new event. What did father really want me to do?

"You have permission to tell Marie-san as much you think is necessary." He was smiling innocently at me, like usual. What? That was unheard of, I mean my and Zero's job was it to keep the Night Class' secret as hidden as possible - and now this?

"Yes, my Yuki-chan you heard me right. It'll be okay." He nodded again and turned his attention back to the other man, Logan, continuing their talk.

I guessed it was time to leave and turned towards Marie. "Come this way, Marie-san," I said to her, noticing her startled look of having to actually to stay here. "Did she not want to come her?" I wondered briefly for a few minutes ago she seemed to be excited about being here but now she was wearing a deep frown on her face. Cross Academy was a school of high quality and state, an elite school, so what was wrong?

"Rogue?"

"Yeah?" Marie turned around to face her friend, father or what ever he was to her.

"Stay away from Night Class." It was an order. Did he suspect something about Night Class? Strange man this Logan-sama; he did look like some ancient warrior in modern clothing or a professional football player with all this muscles of his.

"Okay." I heard her reply. She didn't object or ask why but curiosity was clearly in her voice.

"Come, I'll show you where're you'll be staying." I lead her out of our main building. "It's over there, Marie-san." I gestured to the building on the left side. "Moon Dormitory is on the other side and before you ask, no, it's off limits to day class students." I gave her a serious look to make sure she understood the latter.

Marie-san nodded at these. "So, you're the headmaster's daughter? It must be rather cool, isn't it?" She asked while looking around with a strange expression on her face.

I guess Cross Academy must be looking rather imposing to outsiders with its old architecture. Father said that it had been build after the plans of a European architect, though I didn't remember his name.

I chuckled and nodded. "Well, he's my adoptive father and I guess it should." I sighed. It surely was, I mean being his daughter and prefect to Cross Academy was sometimes not easy.

"We're almost there." I opened the door to main hall of Sun Dormitory. "Here, it's upstairs. Boys' dorm is to other side." I led her to the first story. "But no, it's entirely cool. Sometimes it's quite tiring as I have lots to do as prefect."

"Prefect," she repeated slowly. I could see her frowning at the term. "Has that anything to do with this Night Class thingy?"

"Hmm, yes I guess it has." I answered hesitatingly. I wasn't sure what I should tell her. Father had said it was okay but he had also said only as much as needed.

"I and my adoptive brother, Zero, are responsible that everything's running smoothly between Day and Night Class." I explained after a tense moment of quietness. She didn't say anything in return. I guess she was thinking about what I said and maybe about what that friend of hers had said, too. "We're responsible to make sure anybody keeps playing by the rules."

"Rules?"

"Yep, rules. One of them is not leaving dorm at night for day class students. Keep that in mind Marie-san, as it's the most important one." I explained in a quiet serious voice.

Marie gave me a puzzled look but nodded. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind."

"Here, Marie-san, this is your room. Clothing has already been taken care of, as I know father." I opened the door to show it to her. It was a nice room, not luxurious but spacey and comfortable as all the other rooms were. It had a great sight at the riding ground and one could see bits and pieces of the lake when the weather was clear enough.

"Hmm, Yuki," she muttered and tipped me on the shoulder.

"Yes?" I turned around to face her.

"Am I going to have any roommates?" She asked finally. I thought I heard a slight tinge of fear in her voice. Of what was she afraid?

I shook my head. "No, there are none right now."

"But there might be, in the future? Doesn't it?"

"Yes, I guess. Why is that an issue?" I couldn't help my curiosity then. She looked both happy and unhappy about this.

She swallowed and shook her head. "Nah, it won't."

I let it be cause I could feel her unease. She was afraid of having a friend but from what I could see she could clearly use one. Then I decided I would be a friend to her. I really liked Marie-san besides her being a little odd, but after all my life was odd enough; so I didn't mind.

"You want go to sleep now?" I asked, noting how tired she looked. She must have had a tiring flight.

"Ahm, that sounds like a good idea, Yuki." She yawed and swallowed. "Can I call you Yuki? I'm feeling kind of funny having to use all theses honorifics all the time. Do you mind?"

"It'll be all right … but than would like me to call you Marie, too?" I'm not sure Marie knew it then but asking what she did, was asking me to be her friend. _Well, I'd gladly oblige._

"Oh, yes, that would be nice." Marie smiled at this. "And yes I'd like to be you're friend, too."

"You know?"

"Yes, I do … but it feels strange to me, still." She nodded and grinned. "And I'd really would like you to be my friend, you know. Remember, I don't know anyone here but you, right now."

"Okay, I'd like to be your friend, too, Marie." I smiled back at gave her a slight slap to the shoulder. Marie jerked away from me at this. _What was wrong? _

She swallowed then sighed. "It's okay Yuki, just habit, sorry."

"So, good night, Marie."

"Good night, Yuki."

* * *

Please review for I'd like to hear your thoughts about this.

Well, it helps me writing, too.


	2. Introductions

finally

Change of Heart - Chapter Two - For Disclaimer see Chapter One

Hope you'll like this one, for it took me quite a while to write it. ;-)

* * *

**Introductions**

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The next day began with blazing sunlight, a slightly sleepy breakfast with father -- and with a very moody Zero. The latter was not exactly unusual but the way he was acting, surely was.

Breakfast with father had been so far fine, with me eating in silence while he continued to tell me stories of the past -- but my gaze continued to travel to Zero's place, which remained empty. I looked at my watch and sighed, as it was yet too early to have any right to worry for it was usual for him to be late.

Then we could hear a loud creak, coming from the door. I turned around, just in time to see it being opened to reveal Zero slowly walking into the room, finally sitting down with a dull bump at his usual place. I almost expected the chair to give up under him because the poor thing had creaked so badly.

Strangely, I didn't say anything at first but kept watching him with an uneasy feeling in my belly. He blinked a few times against the bright light and sat still. His eyes were narrowed, downcast but giving intense attention to the single piece of toast before him. He then began coating it slowly with marmalade until its surface was completely covered but he showed no intention to start eating it any time soon. It went on and on for minutes, over and over again.

"Zero?" I asked finally because it was unnerving me: his silence and downcast behaviour.

He just grumbled in return, not looking up from his toast but neither took he a bite out of it.

"What's wrong?" I tried again, louder this time, suddenly worried about him for he looked like he was really bothered by something, and I couldn't let that go without saying a word because I couldn't stop thinking of the other times Zero had been behaving strangely -- neither have been fine. _No, not fine at all._

"Nothing, I'm fine." He replied harshly and for a moment I could see his eyes, which were so clouded with emotion that they looked almost black in the bright morning light than the familiar silver. Zero seemed to have really no interest in eating breakfast: he hadn't touched his toast at all.

"My, you're grumpy today," I muttered and glared at him but he remained silent. He kept pretending to be eating breakfast. He was now biting and chewing on tiny bits and pieces for a long while until he suddenly raised his head again to face me just like he suddenly remembered that he wasn't alone.

"Sorry," Zero muttered, "had a bad night." He shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

I reached out touching his cheek slightly but he didn't react at all. _"What is wrong with you?"_ I wondered. Normally he would have jerked away from my touch if I tried to touch him in a situation like this -- but not now. I let go of him, sighing in defeat.

I went back to eating but I had lost my appetite for now.

"I wished he would learn to act a little more _polite_." I heard Father mutter to himself after having listened to us for a while. He did obviously not care if Zero could hear his words or not -- or may be he wanted him to hear them.

At this I looked up. "Zero, being polite?" I asked wryly. "You're being illusionary father, if you truly expect …" I trailed off, awaiting a poke or something from Zero but nothing came, which bothered me actually a lot more than Zero being moody.

"Maybe I am," Father said slowly and in a thoughtful manner while finishing his breakfast.

Time to go to class, I thought and my gaze went, once again back to Zero, who remained on his place.

"Zero?" I asked loudly, "It's time for class, you coming?"

Nothing, so I tried again and gained a slow nod after a few minutes.

"Go to class Yuki." He said with a shrug. "I'll see you later."

I accepted it with a shrug. What could I've done else? So, I finished breakfast and went to class. I arrived in time and after a short break when Marie arrived a few minutes late accompanied by our teacher's glare, class went by in a blur.

After class was finished I was left alone with Yori and Marie. Zero, strangely, hadn't been in class and I couldn't help but thinking about why he hadn't been there. I mean he had been so moody during breakfast and I was worried. Why was he skipping class? I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes for moment, thinking about what happened a few days ago.

"Was he still thinking about that woman?" I wondered, thinking about Shizuka Hio. No, I concluded it didn't feel that way. When he had been thinking about her he had been all thoughtful and kind of compliant to anything happening around which in turn wasn't very like him. I heard footsteps and opened my eyes to see Yori and Marie walking up to me.

So, now we three stood just a few feet away from the main gate and I think Marie had just been looking out of one of the windows on the left side and because she couldn't hide the curious expression on her face. I guess it's easy to forget how exceptional the buildings and the park really were

"So, how did you get transferred here?" Yori eyed Marie curiously because we hadn't been able to really talk in class. Marie turned around at this and gave us a slightly guarded look but smiled after a moment of hesitation.

"How did I end up here?" Marie replied slowly biting her lip. "Um, just say that I didn't fit in and … ah … needed some time to think."

"Boy trouble?" Yori added slowly after having taken a long look on the uneasy way Marie was tilting her head. I noticed that little knowing smile on Yori's lips, which I knew so well; oh, yes, Yori was a lot more perceptive than most people thought her to be.

"Not, exactly," she blocked and her eyes became clouded with emotion; she was certainly not comfortable with this but then she shook her head and smiled shyly at us.

"Which means there is a boy involved somehow, isn't it?" Yori replied with a dry smile but then nodded after seeing the way Marie narrowed her eyes at her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't pry."

Oh, yes, I could understand Yori, because in a way she was right: most personal trouble we girls have can be led back to a boy, which was common knowledge, wasn't it? I couldn't help but smile too, thinking about how crazy nearly all day class girls acted whenever a boy from Night Class was around.

"Not me of course," I thought but then blushed because my mind had drifted to Kaname-senpai and then to Zero, which was new, and back and forth -- it made me dizzy, so confusing. "Oh, yeah, you're not like them, Yuki, no? No, not at all!" I taunted myself silently until the images vanished and I was finally able to follow what Yori and Marie were saying again.

I fidgeted with my skirt because of the sudden uneasy silence because none of us was saying a single word; they were staring at the floor, too, I noticed.

"Yori, Marie," I said slowly. "You both okay?"

"It's okay, I understand." Marie replied, her lips curving up a little.

"Really, I got here because my professor, my prior professor, he had just known … that I wanted to see the world, to travel I mean, and so my friends thought that this was a great idea for me to come here. I think … he knew your headmaster, too. Um … I think he is my headmaster, too, isn't he?" She explained and broke out into a fit of laughter and looked slightly embarrassed.

"He surely is Marie," I replied grinning. "It's an interesting thought of them knowing each other, but in a way it's logical, isn't it?"

"Yes, I think it would. Cross Academy is a pretty well-known school down here, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is here in Japan. " Yori grinned softly then gave her another curios look but her eyes held a questionable look as if asking for permission. "Um, if I'm allowed to say … you speak Japanese well, for an American teenager, I mean."

"I learned it from a friend," Marie explained, looking now much calmer. "He knows quite a bit about Japan." I suppose she was thinking about this friend of hers, the one, who taught her Japanese. Maybe it was the one, who brought her here, this Logan-san. He had been _speaking_ Japanese very fluently and had hardly sounded like a foreigner at all.

"But you aren't quite comfortable with parts of it, aren't you?" I asked, remembering the way she had been asking me to leave honorifics out with her yesterday.

"No, you're right but I guess that's more a cultural thing." She replied after a moment of silence then frowned, suddenly as if thinking about something completely else.

"Yuki, Yori, why are the other girls acting this … hyper?" Her gaze told me that she was completely obvious to what was happening around her. No, Marie had no idea about what happened every day at class change.

"It's about Night Class, Marie. Well, students in Night Class are all elite students, who do look very attractive and the girls are just excited that class change is only a few hours away. I'll show you later what I mean," I explained, "but please stay at the side please? I don't want you to being over run by them … and you do have to go back to your dorm with the other day class students, of course."

"The rules, right?" She nodded.

"Yep."

"That's it?" Marie looked at Yori and me with a wide unbelieving expression. "That's very strange. They're behaving as if these night class students were pop stars or something."

"Or something." Yori shrugged and grinned slyly. "Well, some of them behave certainly like they think they were pop stars." Well, that would be most definitely Aido and Kain or also known as Idol-senpai and Wild-senpai. I took another curious glance at Marie, wondering how she would react to our Idol-senpai.

"We have algebra next, haven't we?" Marie looked at her schedule, frowning slightly. "That's upstairs, isn't it?"

"Um, yes, Marie, time to go." I gestured towards my watch and motioned her to follow me.

Class went well as I managed to stay mostly awake and got no detention; but Zero wasn't in class again. Where was he? It wasn't usual for him to skip classes like this. So, well, I got only one remark from our teacher but I was worried and I wasn't very focused on the lessons he gave us to do; my thoughts were elsewhere.

I went slowly outside, walking towards Moon Dormitory to do my prefect duty like every evening. I was intentional slow as I was looking out for Zero, hoping to get a glimpse of him somewhere but it was to no avail, no Zero to be seen.

"Um, Yuki?" I turned around to see Yori behind me, standing in the main gate with one hand at the door. Yori had told me earlier that she was too tired today to endure all the screaming fan-girls during class change and wanted to go early to bed for a change. She had been already on her way back to her room, so, why was she here now?

"Yes, Yori?"

Yori had turned her head to me, frowning slightly. "Where is Zero?"

"I don't know Yori." I shook my head. "He was still there at breakfast."

"Um, I tell you if I see him." She grinned. "Ehem, Yuki? It's almost time."

"Oh, yes. I almost forgot. Thank you for reminding me." I looked at my watch; Yori was right there was not much time left.

"It's okay. See you tomorrow." She said and left for our dorm. I watched her leaving until I saw her entering the building safely. I fell into a little trot and headed down the path until I reached Moon Dormitory gate, which was still closed. I sighed in relief seeing as I was yet in time.

I looked at my watch again; there were only a few minutes left until class change but again, no trace of Zero to be seen. "Where are you?" I paced slowly and fidget uneasily with my bracelet to finally sigh in relief when I spotted his silver head coming from the riding grounds.

"Sorry," he said in a hoarse voice because his breath was going sluggish. He had been obviously in a hurry as his clothes looked rumbled and his hair messy.

"Zero," I replied. "Where have you been? First you have been grumpy all morning and didn't show up to class all day." Now, I must have glared at him because he looked suddenly very guilty. _What was going on? Why did you skip classes today?_ It was like I couldn't decide if I should feel curious, worried or angry, so maybe it was all three of them.

"Um, I was out, riding. I was riding." He explained finally. Yeah, I could smell it, I thought. He definitely smelled like Lily, so this was not a lie but I felt there was more behind it. I gave his eyes a critical look-over and sighed in relief. They were looking normal and I couldn't see any hint of red visible. So, it wasn't about that but something was definitely off, cause he looked kind of flustered.

"Riding?" I repeated. "And what about your grades? What about your prefect duty?" I sighed. No, I couldn't handle all those silly girls all by myself. I'll try sure, but I'm pretty sure they'll just run me over again. I needed Zero here, so he could scare them away. Oh, all right, I'm always nagging Zero to be nicer to them, but in truth I was glad he was there; glad that he was there to back me up.

"Well, I'm here now." He muttered an almost-apology. "I had to think about someo… something."

"What?" I gasped in surprise. "He almost said someone, hadn't he? And was he really blushing?" I wondered while staring at him. Yes, his cheeks looked positively flushed.

"Um, Yuki I think we're needed." He gestured towards the waiting day class girls.

I know he did that on purpose, changing topic, but he was right as I could see them coming. Yes, it was time, time to do our job. "Yes, let's go."

Later I noticed during this class change, that Marie seemed to be one of the few day class girls, who didn't outright fawn about our night class boys. Actually, I think she was kind of pleased that there were other's who took all the interest of her fellow classmates.

"These are they?" Marie stood at the side, trying hard to stay out of our way since she didn't wanted to be overrun by the other day class girls, these fan-girls. It was loud, like always and I saw Marie wincing once or twice because of all the 'KYAH's.

"These are the night class students?" She pointed out.

"Yep," I replied and got a brief glimpse at them, enough to recognize Ichijo, Shiki and Ruka but had to turn around because the girls behind me had seen them, too.

"Stay away!" I yelled as I noted some girls trying to get around Zero and me. Zero turned his glare towards them and they stopped suddenly in there actions, retreating. Strange, I mean that Zero's glare had such an effect on them. _Me? I am lucky if I don't get overrun. _I guess this was something he's really good at. I gave him a wry smile, which he returned with a slight shake of his head.

"Here they come," I thought as I heard the fan-girls getting louder. Oh, it was rather obvious; it couldn't be any one but Aido and Kain.

"Good morning girls," Aido greeted them, like every day, grinning his trademark grin and giving a light bow to them while Kain just smiled like usual.

"Idol-senpai, he looks so gorgeous, doesn't he?" I heard one girl whisper to her friend between fits of giggles.

"Look there's Wild-senpai!" Another girl whispered rather loudly.

"Wild-senpai!" "Idol-senpai!" They screamed loudly, all at once, as it seemed and I had to hold my ears; they were really loud tonight.

"Oh, yes, he does. Look, there's Idol-senpai alone." She said in a slightly louder voice and ushered her friend along. They stayed not alone, of course; other girls were following quickly.

I could guess what they had in mind and shook my head. "Stop! It's time for you to go back to Sun Dormitory." I moved between them and Aido, ignoring my uneasy feelings about being so close to him. "Aargh!" I panted trying to push them back with my arms, trying to keep them away from Aido. _Why does this happen always to me?_

"You … stay … away!" I yelled at the fan-girls, but it was hopeless and I was surely going deaf with all these screams from them. I felt sweat running from front head but I was unable to wipe it away cause I was busy trying to keep them away with all I had. "Um." I tried to shove them back but it was pretty senseless, they just kept going.

"Hmm, Yuki-chan do you know how cute you're looking … right now?" Aido asked from behind and patted me on the shoulder, wonderful, just what I needed right now.

There I had crazy fan-girls in front of me and _Aido-senpai_ thought of flirting with me, again. And the fan-girls, they only became wilder and their screams louder after seeing him doing this. "Zero," I muttered, _"Where was he when I need him?"_ I looked around but he too was busy right now. He was guiding a dozen of day class girls back to Sun Dorm, just great!

"You'll need some help, Yuki?" Marie asked me with a grin on her lips but I could see that she, too, wasn't quite sure how to handle this. I guess she didn't have to deal with crazy fan-girls every day.

"Yeah, would be nice," I said between clenched teeth but I was glad for her offer, seeing as two were better than one.

"You," Marie said, "do what she said and go back to your dorm!" Then she did, what I can only describe as a fair imitation of her friend's, Logan-san's, growl. It worked and the girls backed away, sure not so fast as when they were facing Zero but they were no longer threatening to overrun me.

"So, now, do what we said and return to Sun Dormitory." I added and, wonder over wonder, they did what I said. They were retreating back the way they had come, back to Sun Dorm.

"Thanks Marie," I said to her. "Where did you learn that?"

"Yes, I'd like that to know, too. This was _very_ impressive." Um, yeah, Aido had to meddle with us, of course.

I sighed. "Aido-senpai," I said, knowing that there was no way around this. "This is my new friend Marie-san." "Marie, this is Hanabusa Aido."

I gave Marie a short nod, trying to warn her to be careful around Aido. I looked around and noticed that the other night class students must be already in class for I had seen them briefly leaving for the main building. Though, I wondered briefly why _Kaname-senpai_ hadn't been among them this evening.

"Aido-senpai," I said and took a careful step back, turning around to face him. "I haven't seen Kaname-senpai. I hope he is fine, isn't he?

"Yeah, he is." Aido said wryly then shrugged and turned his attention back to Marie. He eyed her with a curious expression in on his face.

"So, you're this transfer student I heard of, aren't you?" He gave her the full boost of his smile, which would've got most day class girls drooling about him.

"Yeah, I'm this student." Marie said with a strange expression, which looked like a mixture of curiosity and dislike but other than that she didn't bat an eye at Aido.

Aido blinked, once, twice, his expression going from curious to surprised. It was obvious that he hadn't expected a reaction like this but in a blink his smile was back and he looked very interested.

_Oh, well, good time to interrupt._

"Aido-senpai?"

"Yes, Yuki-chan?" He smiled dangerously.

"Shouldn't you be in class, too?"

"Yes, he should, shouldn't he, Yuki? Marie added, giving me a knowing look. Seems, that Marie had been dealing with guys like Aido before, playboys not vampires.

He didn't react at first. No, instead his smile turned even wider. "Marie, that's an interesting name." He said smoothly and right in front of Marie. _Oh, Aido-senpai, not again!_

Marie snorted. "It's nothing special, really."

"But this certainly is," he replied while fiddling with the white bang of her hair.

"Stop that, Aido-senpai," Marie grumbled and again, she sounded very like this Logan-san.

"What should I stop?" He whispered into her ear. Damn, Aido, you're going too far. Why does he always has to be such a --?

"This," Marie snapped and pulled her hair from his hand. "I don't like you people touching me." Her answer coursed Aido to pout and doing some melodramatically gesture of his. I guess _Idol-senpai_ wasn't used to get such reactions to his infamous charm but on the other side he seemed to be not really discouraged as I could see a mischievous glint forming in his eyes.

_Why does it always come to this?_

Click. I swirled around to see Zero standing behind us. He pointed his Bloody Rose gun at Aido, very much like he had done before. _Strange, Zero has a habit of coming just in time when things go really awry. _I smiled briefly.

"You're better obeying her, _Aido-senpai_," he said softly but his eyes were anything but soft. They held his usual, glacial glare and more than a slight hint of threat. Oh, I know Zero. Aido had to better obey him -- or he would shoot. I hoped Aido would see reason because I wasn't sure if I would be fast enough this time. I didn't want for anybody to get hurt.

"Aargh." Aido stared wide-eyed at Zero and his gun. I guess he remembered what happened last time when Zero had pointed his gun at him but somehow I doubt Zero had to shoot this time. Aido swallowed and sighed finally.

"All right, I'll go to class" He said with raised hands and a quick look to his watch. "I'm already late anyway." He added with a sudden frown on his handsome face. Oh, I guess his teacher wouldn't be too happy about him being late to class for I'm sure that he does it at least too often for the teacher not to be annoyed with him.

Zero kept staring behind Aido until he could see him enter the main building. Finally he shed his gun back into its holster and turned around to us.

"Thank you." I sighed in relief, happy to have brought this class change behind me like any other before. More important: I brought it behind me without something happening to the day class girls or exposing Night Class' secret.

"You all right?" He asked me then.

I nodded. "Yes, you came at the right time Zero."

"Hey, I'm supposed to do that, Yuki." He smirked slightly, which was second to his real smile but I guess this would do -- and it was worlds apart from his grumpy-ness this morning.

"Yes, I guess you are." I smiled back, happy that he was finally back and I hadn't to do patrol alone.

"So, that's why." I heard her saying behind me. I turned around.

"What?"

"Well, that's why you haven't been staring at me, Yuki. I mean the first time we met." She looked down, moving from one leg to the other. She felt obviously shy about this. I gave her a smile to encourage her to keep talking.

"Staring, Marie? Why should I do that?" I asked and my gaze followed her gaze towards Zero and where night class students had came from earlier, Moon Dorm.

"It's him and them you know, Yuki." She explained behind me and fiddled with her bang of white hair. "These night class students, they're really outstanding I mean. They look rather unique, you know -- good looking, too." She tipped against her white bang of hair. "And this doesn't look so out of place here."

"Zero … and Night Class?" I muttered, noting that Marie was right; they were outstanding. Heck, Zero was even beautiful, when smiling. Whoa, have I'd just thought of Zero being beautiful? Yep, I have. Oh, well he wasn't smiling right now but neither was he frowning like usual.

"You, know I'm not so outstanding here." Marie explained, tipping at her strand of white hair.

"Oh!" I replied, finally getting what she meant. "Your previous school wasn't like this?"

"Um, nah. It was different, and … well, we didn't have to wear an uniform."

"No school uniform, really?"

"Yep, and it's good thing." She replied and giggled a little. "It'll be a little hard on most kids there. But I guess some would look really great in uniform even greatly uncomfortable."

"Like this friend of yours?"

"Oh, Logan, yes. He's not a student but I guess he wouldn't wear one anyway." She explained and grinned amused about that thought and I had to agree with her -- it was difficult to imagine that man in any uniform.

"Hmm, teacher then?" I could hardly imagine that man as a teacher as well. "What kind of topic would a man like that be teaching?" I wondered, for he hadn't looked exactly like a teacher to me.

"Yep, self-defence." Marie said with a wide grin on her lips.

"Um, I think I'm happy not to attend your school then, Marie." I swallowed, thinking of that bulk of a man. I guess even Yagari-sensei would have respect for him, but then I didn't really know Yagari-sensei, too. Maybe he would see it only as a challenge.

"Yuki?" I turned around, to see Zero standing behind me. "It's time for our patrol."

"Oh, yes it is." I agreed seeing as we were alone.

"You'll have to return to Sun Dorm, too." I said seriously.

"Yes, I know." She agreed but yet I could see curiosity lurking in her eyes.

"Yuki?"

"Yes?" I replied, wondering what she was up to.

"I don't like… like them." Marie fingered her white strand of hair absentmindedly. "And I don't like him touching me."

"Who?"

"Night Class, I mean, and this Aido guy. They look a little too perfect for my taste." She said with a wry grin. "Besides I don't like guys like him, _playboys_." She snorted in obvious disgust at that.

I couldn't help but stare at her for long while. "Who was this Marie?" I thought. "And not liking Aido-senpai at all after her first meeting? No, I certainly hadn't expected that, although I was more than a little nervous around Aido but that was because I _knew_ what he truly was.

I walked her to Sun Dorm, smiled one last time and followed Zero towards main building were our classrooms were. It turned out to be a calm night, as did the nights afterwards. Things seemed to go their normal way and everything should have gone well, but --

Well, it was until we got the next two new students. This time they were two boys, also Day Class, Katashi and Takeshi Mori. Yagari-sensei said they were from hunter stock. Just like Zero, only much weaker. He sounded slightly worried and I think I could understand him.

Seriously, putting vampire hunter children on a school, which also had vampires attending, that was asking for trouble but father insisted of accepting these two. Once, again I had to shake my head, true I agreed with father's dream of peace for it was mine too but we should not overdo things and most of all not too fast.

Gladly, the boys kept their distance to Night Class and didn't even attend class change.

And Zero? He just got along nicely with these two boys. It was ironic in a way; there was he, a vampire, going along with vampire hunters. Oh, but they didn't know Zero's secret and Takeshi and Katashi weren't full hunters, yet. They seemed also too weak to sense vampires the way Zero did, which was fortunate for him.

Actually, I think it was that Zero felt kind of stupefied by the way they were looking up to him, the last Kiryu.

I mean; if I understood it correctly, the Kiryu clan had been legendary among hunters. At least that's what father said. I hadn't liked the way it made Zero blind to their faults and I had a very bad feeling about these two boys but I put it away as me overreacting.

It was really funny in a way, knowing what I knew about Zero and them being clueless. So clueless that I had a hard time keeping myself from laughing out loud about the way they were acting around Zero because they were acting very much like fan-girls around Night Class, well, minus the screaming.

Luckily, I could feel him starting to become annoyed with their behaviour, which showed in the slight twitch of his eyes when they were pestering him with questions about vampires and especially his family. Yeah, right like that, whenever they were too curious his eyes began to twitch first, then narrow to tiny slits for a moment before he finally glared at them and told them to shut up, which they did -- but they kept coming back.

Something, I could not quite understand, truth to be told.

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TBC

Thank you for reading!

Miarath


	3. Secrets

Change of Heart - Chapter Three

For Disclaimer see Chapter One

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**Secrets**

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Class next day started with history and ended with ethics done by Yagari-sensei, who was actually anything but boring, well, because he was Toga Yagari, but it was hard for me to keep myself awake -- just the usual.

"Is he always like this?" Someone, Marie asked me. She had sat down next to Yori and me this time. Yagari-sensei had just left classroom since class was finished for today but there was no hurry to get out; it was still early.

"Who, Yagari-sensei?" I shrugged. "Yes, I think so. But I can't say really cause I haven't known him for too long. He's teaching here only since last month." Sure, Yagari-sensei was strange and more than a little scary. _I mean he looks scary with that eye-patch of his, doesn't he? But he is interesting and sometimes I wonder how many secrets, he's hiding behind that eye-patch of his._

"He's rather … different." Marie chuckled slightly. "He would fit in well where I come from."

I laughed in return, couldn't help it. I mean this Marie, she was so serious most of the time, but she had a really charming laugh. I picked up my books after I had seen that Yori and the others had already left and we were left alone. "Come let us leave here, too."

"Okay. Doesn't make much sense remaining in class after class, does it?"

"No, no, it doesn't" I replied and we laughed together. "So, you like Yagari-sensei?"

"I think I do, but that might be just me. Guess I have a thing for no-nonsense guys." She shrugged and gave me wry grin. "He reminds me a lot of Logan, Yuki."

"You're friend, the one who brought you here?"

"Yes, the same one." She nodded and opened the door so we could leave class. "The place I'm from doesn't look all that different from here, you know. It's only a lot smaller but the building itself looks nearly as old as this one." She touched the wall slightly, giving it a closer look. "Is this really as old as it looks?"

"I think so," I said slowly, following her look. Marie was right it looks old, very old.

"I don't know, really, but it is old." I frowned, thinking that I really had no idea how old Cross Academy truly was and it wasn't a school for all too long, too. Sure, father had said it was build years ago after a European architect's plan but how much was years ago? I hadn't got a clue so I changed topic.

"So, I take your old school is rather unique, too?"

Marie just smiled wryly at this. "You don't know how unique … but yours isn't that normal either, is it?"

"Hmm, yes, I guess you could say that." I replied slowly. _How much could I really tell her?_

"Your friend, this Zero … is he..." Marie sounded nervous and she wasn't looking at me right now, like she didn't knew how I would react to what ever she was trying to tell me. No, instead she seemed to check our surroundings, like making sure that we were alone; which we were, alone.

There were no other day class students around, which wasn't further surprising cause class was done for today and it was quite early since one of our teachers had called in sick, which meant we had several hours till class change. This was why we were alone now, but why was it so important to Marie?

_What was so difficult or so delicate that we had to be alone for this? _

"I am what?" Zero narrowed his eyes, glaring at her. Zero must have been waiting outside for me when I hadn't left class immediately and I could see how tense he really was, right now. I think even now he was afraid that people would eventually find out what he really was and that he would have to leave Day Class. I shuddered; no, I didn't want him to leave, ever.

"I … ah don't know. Forget it." Marie stammered, clearly uncomfortable but she kept her gaze steady.

"What did you just try to say?" Zero grabbed her by her shoulders; it looked like he was truly unnerved by her question now. Marie squirmed under his grip, trying to pull free but Zero was stronger and he was too annoyed to let her go that easily.

"Um, Zero, please let her go." I tried to pull him away and surprisingly succeeded after a few moments. I guess he let me, for he was a lot stronger than I. He turned around and I was staring up into his eyes, close-up. They were huge and intense; I swallowed, trying to overcome this sudden awkwardness. "Zero…"

"Yuki." He whispered and I shivered in return. He was close enough that I could feel his breath on my face. I couldn't help but think about the other times he had been this close to me, when he drank my blood. No, that was definitely not a good thought or was it? It made me always feel funny when he did that. The way he held me, and the gaze from his crimson eyes. I noticed they were silver right now and no hint of red visible but it was almost the same expression, the same kind of intensity.

An Intensity, which kept smoothly bouncing from him to me, and back and it felt like my skin was suddenly charged, and tingling with tiny darts of electricity. I know something had changed, ever since I knew what he was, since I let him drink my blood. This was far more intense than a brother-sister-relationship should feel like, I thought confused. "What was he to me?" I forget that we were not alone and forget that Marie stood next to us; only he and I seemed to matter right now.

"Mutant," Marie whispered. "That's what I wanted to say."

I jerked away from Zero, the spell between us broken, to look back at Marie. This I hadn't expected to hear out of her mouth. I know, I stared at her for quite a while and so did Zero, next to me. He hadn't moved away much I noted, feeling evenly happy and confused at the same time. I didn't know what to say then.

"No." It was Zero, who answered instead of me. "No, I'm not."

"How can you be sure?" Marie pushed further, all fear seemed to have left her after she had spoken it out aloud.

"Cause I am." Zero grumbled and glared at her in return.

"Why are you asking this, Marie?" I interjected; knowing full well that I didn't wanted to let her pester him any more than necessary about this. I knew his temper.

"Well, there's your looks … and you're moving far too fast for being human."

How could she have noticed this? Well, I meant the thing about Zero being faster than normally possible. Zero had been really carefully around Day Class and he was good at that, too. I mean he had been fooling me for nearly four years about his true nature. So, how did Marie find out?

"You're mutant," I heard myself whispering and Marie choked at it in return.

"No … not anymore," she replied quietly. It was almost a whimper, as if she felt sorry for it or she thought she _should_ feel sorry about it but didn't.

"You took this cure, didn't you?" Zero questioned. He had seen the news too, of course, just like me. I mean he was usually there with us, having breakfast with father and me.

"Yes," she replied, sounding unsettled. Her gaze was now quivering where it had been steady before. Why was this making her so uncomfortable? I shared a long look with Zero and he nodded finally.

Father had given us permission to tell her, I remembered, probably because he knew what she was, knew that we could trust her -- and we were _really_ alone right now.

We were the only ones here in this hallway. All of Night Class were still in their dorms and there were no other day class students nearby; they were probably either in their dorms or outside in the gardens, so it should be safe, I thought -- but did I really wanted to do this?  
_Telling her?_

"And?" My voice sounded steady and to the point even if I didn't feel very steady on the inside right now -- and Marie, she eyed us strangely as if wondering why we didn't freak out.

"Nothing, it's okay. I'm just not used to this … openness." Marie smiled shyly.

"Why should we," I nodded to Zero, "reacting differently? I mean being a mutant is nothing to be ashamed of, is it?" At least I hoped it was not. No, definitely not easy but it wasn't if one could choose to be mutant or not. It was just like being born as girl or boy for that matter.

"No, it's not." He added. "It's not like being mutant means being a monster or such." I noticed an edge to his voice. Oh, yes, of course from his side it was understandable.

I thought I had made my point clear about this to him. _Did Zero still thought of himself that way?_ I could see his pain clearly in his eyes and like always I wished I could take it away from him, but it never seemed to be quite enough. I sighed sadly.

"No, I guess not … but many people seem to believe differently." Marie nodded and sighed. "Me too." She swallowed deeply. "It can be a burden, being a mutant I mean. Not every mutation is pleasant to have."

"Marie, there's more than mutants out there." Zero said slowly, his gaze still locked with mine. "I'm not sure you're going to believe us." He nodded to me, his gaze travelling to my neck where I was wearing a plaster; the plaster covering his bite marks. Suddenly, I felt really warm now and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears but I couldn't look away from him.

"Yuki?"

"Okay," I agreed and opened slowly the first buttons of my blouse so that the plaster was being revealed. I reached for it and trembled suddenly. "Zero." I whispered.

"Okay?" He mouthed.

I nodded but it felt like I was to be drowned in his gaze and it was getting worse with any second we kept standing like this. And his gaze, it grew more intense with every second he kept looking at me and was there a tint of red there in his eyes? I removed it, revealing his fang marks.

"Marie, look at me." I said softly, trying to be loud enough for her to understand but quite enough to not attract unwanted attention. She did what I said and stopped, her eyes becoming big with confusion and surprise.

"W-what's that Yuki?" She was staring at the bite marks. "T-that's looking like … No, that's impossible." She muttered and shook her head almost violently. "Vampires do not exist."

"So, do mutants ... not exist?" I whispered, but my gaze had returned to Zero. I couldn't help but I felt my cheeks reddening even more with heat, noticing how close we really were right now.

"Zero," I thought, "was he going to…" I was very aware now of the red increasing in his eyes. Yes, I was not mistaken; the signs were clear. I shouldn't be surprised since he managed to turn me away the last few times I asked him if he needed blood but I was, kind of -- surprised.

"Zero," I heard myself whisper because there was strange eagerness to his gaze, something that hadn't been there before. No, this wasn't normal behaviour for him. Normally, I had to nearly force him to drink my blood but now he was approaching me straight away. _Damn, I hadn't intended this to become a live demonstration. _

I know I could've stopped him then, but I didn't. No, instead I raised trembling fingers to pull my hair back and tilted my head in silent invitation. I was more than flustered now because we've been always alone before. No, I hadn't wanted him to stop but yet, it was awkward and exciting at once. Excitement, my heart raced with it and I could hardly breathe because I could already feel his breath on my neck. _Dear God, he was close, so close._

"W-what's going on?" It was Marie's voice, which was asking this in a very shaken way. But I couldn't concentrate on that, not at all; all I could think about was Zero.

"There's a reason why Zero's faster than most humans." I whispered before all conscious thoughts left me. Zero was licking the puncture wounds, which were almost completely healed but still sensitive, so very sensitive and it was driving me slowly crazy, lick for lick.

I shivered and I think I must have moaned too and blushed furiously after this but I couldn't think -- only feel and lean into his touch. I-I could hardly breathe and then I felt the piercing pain of Zero's fangs on my neck followed by something unspeakable. I closed my eyes and let go, surrendering to this, to our _sin._

"You're vampire!" I heard Marie's voice far away. "So, you know now," I thought dimly but I was beyond words. No, there were no words appropriate for this. It was too sensual; no wonder this was forbidden. Then after a long while I blinked and came to my senses, gradually, when I felt that Zero had stopped drinking from me. He was licking my wounds now to make sure the bleeding would stop.

It wasn't less disturbing nor was it less sensual than his bite and I couldn't help it but leaning into his touch, closing my eyes again. I opened my eyes finally when he let go of me. I looked down at me; there was very little blood on my uniform. "Zero was becoming better in this," I thought. "Good."

Finally, after what felt like a small eternity I turned my gaze to Marie, who continued to stare at us.

"He's a vampire," she repeated her former statement. "I-I thought vampires were only fairy tales and Hollywood."

"Yes, Zero's my vampire," I agreed while still feeling a little dazed from what just happened. Zero's gaze snapped at this at me, giving me another intense look. _Ouch, did I really just say that? _Yes, I said ''my' vampire but it felt so right to me and right now he looked very much like that with all that blood on his face yet I had to do something about that. I reached in my uniform pocket, looking for something I could use to _clean_ him up.

"Here," I muttered to Zero and pulled his chin softly down to me so I could reach it easily.

"What?" He replied with a dazed look, shivering ever so softly under my touch.

"We can't let you stay like this, now can we, Zero?" I explained and pulled out a handkerchief and softly wiped the blood from his face. "And we can't have anybody see you like this, too." I reminded him. "Don't you remember? Blood is not allowed on the school grounds."

"Oh, of course." He nodded gratefully.

Then being pleased with my work I turned my attention back to Marie. Remembering what Father said to me, I shook my head.

"No, Marie, vampires are real. I think, as real as mutants are." I didn't explain how Zero became a vampire or any further detail about vampires, just enough to satisfy her curiosity without giving away too much. Father had said that I should tell her as much as needed, he hadn't said I had to tell her everything and she wasn't telling me everything too. I guess I had a right to do just as I did, telling her only the absolute necessary things.

So, Marie knew about vampires since then. We didn't tell her about Night Class, cause it hadn't been necessary but I think she suspected something. So, after that everything went on like usual. Well, Marie was helping us with classes, together with Yori, after having realized that we had to stay up every night and had trouble keeping awake in class.

Yes, I really liked Marie, however I guessed she had some bad things in her past. I could see it in her eyes, the way she was shy with people and so. She reminded me a bit of Zero when I first met him only she was talking a lot more than he had back then.

A short while after this the whispers began, right after this report on TV. It had been a report about an assault by mutants on this fortress, Alcatraz. Marie had been strangely quite right after this but I shrugged it off of her being a former mutant and I guess some of her friends had been involved so it was naturally for her to react like she did.

It wasn't something to put a finger on and Zero and I, none of us noticed it at first for everything stayed normal. We were still patrolling each night and having our hands full with manic fan-girls. A few nights after this father had a visitor. He didn't spoke about it but the way he was frowning it couldn't have been anything good.

Again I put it off, it wasn't my business but then I caught some of the boys making fun of Marie during class break.

"She's a freak, Katashi. That's what I said." One of them said.

"I don't think this is right, though."

"Ah, you're such a baby."

"Am I not!"

Takeshi punched his brother's shoulder after this, which resulted in Katashi scratching his shoulder before returning his brother's kindness with a similar punch.

"You're done, now?" Katashi glared but calmed down after seeing his brother nodding in return after a while.

"It's her look," Takeshi whispered. "She looks like those freaks on TV. I bet she's a mutant."

"She's human, Takeshi. It's not right." He shrugged. "If she were to be a vampire, but … she isn't. It's not right."

"Vampires, mutants they're all the same." Takeshi grumbled. "They deserve nothing but death. Didn't you see that guy, that Magneto guy rambling about destroying all of mankind?"

"I've seen that one, all right." Katashi shrugged as in giving in to his brother's ideas. He swallowed. "But what about Nigh Class?"

"What about _them?"_ Takeshi all but spat it out.

"If we're going to do something about this girl but leave 'them' in peace -- It somehow doesn't feel right to me." Katashi fidgeted with his uniform at this, showing clearly how uncomfortable the whole topic had made.

"We cannot Katashi. You know that as well as I do. The elders prevent it." He said in frustration. "And it's not we're doing anything really bad to her, I mean. Just some fun, a joke nothing else." He explained and smirked mischievously.

"All right." I heard Katashi agreeing to his older brother's plan after hesitating for a while. "So, what do you have in mind?" he whispered.

"You know about that white streak of her hair?"

"Yeah, who doesn't? What have you on your mind, brother of mine?"

"Let's do turn it into something else," Takeshi explained, "like bright pink."

They were both laughing -- almost in a manic way.

I had to do something about this, but I felt suddenly uneasy about going alone. I don't know why I felt the way I did, for I both faced herds of fan-girls every night and vampires but these both were boys, being both taller and stronger than I and they were hunters. Maybe it was just, that I wanted to see Zero confronting them, seeing them for what they truly were. So I went back to get Zero for help.

Well, I got Zero back with me but when we came back the two were gone and we had to search for them.

It turned out they weren't gone far, as we found them near the library of all places but they already found Marie but it made sense for Marie spent a lot time there when not in class.

We were just in time to watch them arguing with Marie and things were happening fast but Zero gestured for us to wait. I gave him a confused look but gave in after seeing the mischievous glint in his eyes. "He's planning something," I thought with delight.

"You don't belong here, freak!" Takeshi taunted.

Marie glared back, her expression shifting between anger and amusement. "And you do?"

"Yeah, I do. Just look at you, no one should have hair like that!" He gestured towards the white bangs of her hair.

"Takeshi!" Katashi pulled his brother back by his jacket, trying to keep him away from Marie but Takeshi ignored him and continued to glare at Marie. He took a step forward.

"So," Marie replied, raising an eyebrow. "Everyone can have hair like this and you're just an ordinary bully." She snorted in disgust.

Takeshi hit her right cheek, slapping her with his right hand and moved quickly away as if he was afraid of her hitting him back. I guess, he didn't want an actual fight with but make her feel uncomfortable but then it happened. Takeshi slapping her had been all but a trick to keep her attention from his other hand, which reached out fast and threw something at her.

Snap. It was a hollow sound like something was breaking.

"Don't dare an' touch me!" Marie stumbled backwards, wearing a look of momentary panic on her face. She swallowed and shrugged and padded her uniform back into form, as if to put herself back under control.

"Ouch, she's touchy!" Takeshi made a face at her. "Are you _so_ afraid of being touched, girlie? Well, at least you're looking nice now." He sneered.

Marie's hand went to her hair at this, pulling some of it into her view and frowned.

"You're dead." She growled as she noticed the pinkish colour it had turned into.

He moved to slap her again.

"Damn." He missed her and Marie pulled him forward and threw him to the floor with sleek move. Finally, she put a foot on his chest and keeping him in place below her.

"So, do you yield?" She asked him mockingly.

Takeshi just grumbled something unintelligent under his breath but it was clear that he had anything in mind but yielding.

"Nobody hits my brother." Katashi mumbled and tried to pull her away from his brother. She freed her hand with a side twist, twisting his wrist in the process making Katashi cry out in pain.

"Ouch! You didn't have to do this," he muttered.

"Then you should better make sure not to touch me. I can't stand it." Marie turned around to face Takeshi again, who had been able to get up in the mean time. Katashi stood beside him, so she faced both of them. She scowled in disgust. "Especially if guys like you're doing it."

Takeshi shrugged and moved slowly closer to Marie but making sure to stay out of her … reach. "Marie." He sneered. "Ma-ri-ee!"

"Takeshi!" Katashi poked him into the ribs. "Let it go. It's not worth it."

"No," he disagreed. "I'm not chickening out to something like that!" He pulled Marie down and hit her at the stomach this time. Marie shrieked in surprise, she hadn't seen that coming, because listening to Takeshi's brother had distracted her.

"Au!" Takeshi held his stomach and glared at her. She had paid him in his own medicine back and hit him with her legs while he tried to hit her again.

I hadn't known that she was this good at fighting, but strength wasn't everything, so it seemed.

"That's enough." Zero said loudly and fixed them with his glare. "You know brawling isn't allowed on the school grounds."

"What!?" They exclaimed both being taken by surprise.

"You know that means detention," Zero continued, "for at least a weak." Zero was actually smirking right now, brightly. He didn't like guys who were treading girls like this and these two seemingly disappointed Zero. I know how Zero had held these two in high regards, but not anymore, which was exactly what I wanted him to see and why I asked him to come with me here.

"You cannot be serious…" Takeshi whined and yelped. His brother had given him another poke into the ribs, meant to shut him off, so he couldn't get them into any more trouble by saying something stupid.

"You bet I'm serious." Zero sneered but I could see that Zero was truly disappointed of their behaviour. Zero hadn't expected for Takeshi and Katashi to behave this badly, hitting a girl just because they thought her to be a mutant.

"So, you two," Zero continued, "would you please apologize to Marie-san?"

"Um, yes," Katashi replied while looking at his feet; he couldn't meet Zero's glare. "We are sorry." He poked his brother in the ribs. "We are, aren't we?" He asked his brother, nagging him say yes.

"Um, yes we are, Zero-senpai." Both Katashi and Takeshi were years younger and right now it was showing clearly but Zero had been older than his years since I've known him; even if he wasn't showing it most of the time. He could be such a jerk sometimes, but he was just like me in many ways. Nobody, I guess, could stay truly a child with what happened to us.

So, this day ended with both Katashi and Takeshi getting detention, which they weren't very happy about, naturally -- and a very quite night for Zero and me, considering prefect duty.

-

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-

_Thank you for reading_

- and review if you like for I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Miarath


	4. Boy Trouble

finally

Change of Heart - Chapter Four

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

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**Boy Trouble**

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"Class change, again," I thought while watching the gate-doors opening with a creak and loud cheering from the fan-girls, giving way to Night Class, starting with Aido and Kain this time and ending with Kaname-senpai. I tried not to give too much attention to the latter course I could feel the fan-girls getting squirmy on the other side and I had to keep my eyes on them or else they would slip my guard.

There were less of them than usual even they are as loud as always and I could make out Yori among them, surprisingly but she kept to the side, standing near that big three, watching them from afar. I knew she wasn't much interested in Night Class and felt rather uneasy about them, too, but she came to watch like anybody else did.

The screams became louder and I saw Zero's body tightening with tension beside me as they got closer while he tried to keep glaring at both of them at once, fan-girls and Night Class alike and thankfully it did work this time to keep them in check. I could see the fan-girls retreating and calming down. I sighed in relief; class change seemed to go nicely so far.

"Yuki-chan?" I turned around to see Aido in front of me. _Vampires,_ I thought, they always seemed to make a habit of sneaking up on people.

"Aido-senpai?" I stared because he was frowning right now, _weird._

"Where's Marie-san? I haven't seen her the last few times around." The frown was suddenly gone, being replaced by his usual smile and the fan-girls on the other side became louder in reaction to it.

"Is she all right?" He added softly but again he had a very serious look on his face.

"_Better get this behind me fast." _I thought while looking hastily from him to the girls behind me but then I really realized what he had said and my mouth became suddenly very dry; I couldn't say anything.

_Aido-senpai, worried about Marie? Aido-senpai worried? _

"She's fine and in her dorm, Aido-senpai." Zero interrupted us before I could even try to answer. "And you better keep going to class, too." He added with a snort and glare after a moment of taking in the curious look on Aido's face. I think he found it highly amusing to see Aido-senpai sprouting an expression like that.

Strangely, Aido complied without a word and did as Zero said; he went to class.

Zero and I then shared a look of disbelief about what we'd just seen, Aido-senpai behaving and worried. I looked up to note that the others were following Aido. They went straight to class, just as they were supposed to be -- and the fan-girls were quiet, almost subdued as if they dared not to interrupt their idols way to class.

I watched them leaving, day class girls walking in silence back to their dorm. I guess with Aido and Kain gone there wasn't much for them to scream about. _Why did they have to choose Aido and Kain of all night class students to fawn on?_ It's not as if these two are the most trustworthy ones among them but I guess they are the most amusing ones or what was it what made them so attractive to them?

"They're not exactly smart, are they, Yuki?" I heard somebody say; it was Yori's voice I recognized and turned around to look for her.

Yori had left her previous watching place and stood now only a few feet away from me. "Yori?" I stared at her for a moment then I shook my head, realizing she meant the fan-girls with her question. "The day class girls? No, I guess they are not."

"Um, Yuki, I think you better do something," Yori suddenly swallowed uneasily and gestured towards Moon Dorm, towards the gate. I followed her gaze and saw Kaname-senpai; he alone stood still in the gate watching us, oh --

"Fast." She added with a little more fervour.

"Yes," I agreed. Yori was right I had to do something, probably fast, too, because Kaname-senpai wasn't alone. No, from what it looked like, he was facing off Zero for they were standing directly in front of each other.

Zero and Kaname were staring at each other in what looked like a glaring match, at least on Zero's side because of the way he stood there. Zero hands were clenching and unclenching slowly and his whole body looked tense with anger -- he had to be glaring.

But if Zero was glaring, Kaname seemed not affected by it for he was smiling his familiar smile, his familiar little smile, the one which made me always feel happy out of the blue.

Now, there was something strange in his eyes as he narrowed them while looking at Zero.

"Kuran." Zero said to him, no, it was more like he spat it out like it was something dirty, something despicable.

"Kiryu," Kaname answered in kind but his voice sounded smooth and slightly amused in contrast to Zero's and his smile grew wider.

"Zero, Kaname-senpai!" I said and leaped between them, facing Zero and trying to pull him away from Kaname. No, reaction other than that he glared at me too before he finally went back to glaring at Kaname.

I shivered. Normally I didn't get the brunt of it but I could understand why the day class girls were so afraid of him then -- but I couldn't help wondering. I knew Zero to be rude but this was extremely rude even for him, speaking like that to Kaname, leaving out honorifics and all.

I shuddered; Zero really must hate Kaname a lot … but Kaname had done the same, which was far from usual for him, so unusual that I could hardly believe it. He was always so perfectly well mannered even when insulted, the perfect gentleman, normally. "Was he trying to make Zero even madder?" I wondered. "But why?"

For a long moment I thought neither of them would react but then I heard Kaname chuckling behind me followed by another scowl from Zero. I jerked around and I guess I must have stared at him with a worried look on my face because Kaname nodded slowly.

"It's okay, Yuki," he said softly," but I think it's better I go to class now."

He nodded and for a moment it seemed like he was going to ruffle my hair -- just like he had done so many times before, but he stopped his hand in mid-air, gazing at Zero behind me.

"Yeah, better do that, Kuran." Zero agreed with a voice, which sounded so much like growl to my ears that I had trouble to understand him properly -- but Kaname ignored it completely and went to class without looking back.

We were alone I noted, Zero and I, even Yori had gone back to her dorm.

"What was that about?" I glared at him.

"Nothing," he murmured in return and looked down. "Nothing, Yuki."

"Yeah, nothing," I agreed and sighed. "Can't you be civilized for once?"

"No."

I punched him in annoyance and turned around to walk away. "Come," I said almost rudely, I think. "We've got patrol to do."

Zero grumbled in return but followed me.

Patrol that night went surprisingly well without a single incident even if Zero stayed rather quiet during the whole night, really quiet. Some days, he just made my head spin. I mean I had been, for what? For four years beside him and yet --

I hardly understood him at times.

-

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xox

* * *

-

Next day started as usual but Marie greeted me with a bright smile at class start and I guess it was because of her hair. It was back to normal, finally. I had never thought it to be so difficult to get that darn dye out of it but what ever Takeshi had used it was a hellish stuff but with Yori's help we got it finally out. You wouldn't guess it but Yori knew a lot about hair because of her mother being a hairdresser. Well, I was happy too, because after that incident with Takeshi and Katashi Marie had been moody all day and I had enough dealing with Zero as it was. One moody person was certainly enough for everyone, wasn't it?

I looked and noted with a grin. Marie wasn't the only one back to normal Zero was too, and he had dozed off too, like usual. No, wait not completely and stared. Yep, it was there.

Zero looked to be fast asleep but there was a soft smile playing around his lips.

I couldn't stop looking and I guess I was so engrossed that I forgot about everything around me, including class, including our teacher and I guess I must have dazed of at some time.

That was until someone was poked me and I jerked out of it. "Yori," I muttered.

"Yep, you better keep your attention class, Yuki-chan." she whispered to me.

"Oh, all right." I nodded in return and forced me to look ahead and focus on class.

Later I couldn't help but wonder, how he did it sometimes. Sleeping in class, I mean, without getting caught, just like today. I shrugged, must be some vampire thing.

_Maybe he did something to make himself unnoticeable? To vanish from the viewers mind?_

"Zero?" I called but got no answer.

Yep, he was as gone as Algebra class was finished. _How had he done this?_

Well, there was still time. I shrugged and turned to Marie. I guess I could use the time as well for some girl-talk instead of wondering where he had vanished to, again.

"So, how do you like Cross Academy?"

"I think it's okay. You know it's still a little weird for me having to wear this," Marie answered and gestured downwards at her school uniform. "It makes me feel like I'm dressed up all the time." I saw her tracing its borders with her fingertips, stopping at the buttons to inspect their shape of roses. "These look beautiful."

"But it looks good on you, Marie." I grinned. "You know it goes well with your hair and all. You're really lucky to have dark hair like me."

"Yeah, I think it does." She agreed and chuckled. "At least it's back to normal."

"And what about the classes?" I added. "Do you understand everything? I know you speak Japanese well but it's still a foreign language."

"It's all right." Strangely, I could hear wonder in her voice. Didn't she expect to understand it this well? "

"I guess Logan taught me well." She snorted at this but then her expression became suddenly sad and her eyes attained a far-away look.

"You're missing your friends, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am." She swallowed deeply as trying to fight off her sadness without much success. "But it's good to me too, you know, being away from all that what happened at home."

"Glad to hear." I gave her a little pad on the shoulder and she smiled in return

"Um, Yuki?"

"Yes, Marie?"

"You remember when Yori-san asked me about how I got here?"

"You mean when she asked you if you had any boy-trouble?" I replied then smiling a wry smile. "It is really about a boy, isn't it?" I said slowly, keeping my voice low. No, I really didn't want to intrude but she looked like she really needed to talk about something.

"Am, yes, but …" Marie agreed with a blush. "Nah, it's about my roommate, you know."

"Huh?" I put in. "Girl trouble?" I thought she had trouble with her boyfriend, but how fit her roommate into this? _That is if this girl isn't the source of her problem._

"Um, yeah, you see there's my roommate Kitty and … I think she has her eyes on my boyfriend."

"Oh, I get it. You're roommate's flirting with your boyfriend, yes?" I nodded to show her I understood her, to give her comfort.

"Um, yes I guess you could put it that way." She swallowed and looked down to her feet before finally turning her gaze back to me. "It's complicated … and I might be wrong, but it's just that she could give him something I couldn't."

I nodded slowly and gave her a long thoughtful look. "Does he love you?"

"I thought so."

"But now you're not sure?"

"Yes, and I'm afraid, I guess, afraid of losing him." She whispered. "But I already have, haven't I? I mean …" Her voice broke at this. "I thought I could forget him, but --"

"It's okay." I nodded and pulled her into my arms, hugging her, cause I could see that it was hurting Marie deeply but I didn't know what to say so I remained silent instead.

"Ah, thank you. I wasn't sure …"

"It's all right, I'm your friend." I gave her another friendly hug and before finally releasing her. "And this is what friends are for, or not?"

"Yes, you're right." She said smiling a little.

"Sure I'm right," I said and smiled back, but frowned suddenly when my glance fell at the clock on the wall. It was later than I thought. "Marie?"

"Yes?"

"I think we should go now, we're already late for riding class." I saw her following my gaze to the clock and she nodded in return.

"Riding class, oh, shit," she muttered. "I forgot about that one."

"Then come." I ushered her to follow me. Wouldn't do any good to come too late to riding. "No, not at all." I thought, being late meant a high possibility that the only horse being left would be Lily.

Luckily we got there in time and neither of us had to take Lily as our riding horse but I could see that that wasn't because we're in time. No, it was because Zero was riding her instead of any of us. Okay, that's where he'd vanished to earlier and I felt kind of relieved but something was off. I frowned slightly, not knowing what to think about this. _He had lately shown a keen interest in riding Lily, hadn't he?_

"So, that is this White Lily they others were talking about?" I heard Marie whispering beside me. "Looks like a nice horse to me."

I followed her glance and yes there was Lily and Marie was right, Lily was behaving right now. Really, it was a shame that Lily was only with Zero like this, for she was one of the best horses we had here at Cross Academy.

"Yes, she is but that it's only because he's riding her." I chuckled remembering how wild she got during one of the times when I visited Zero in the stables. No, I guess the stables weren't a safe place for me when Lily was around.

"How come?" Marie motioned her horse closer to mine.

"That's because Zero raised her. He gave her milk after her mother had died giving birth to Lily." I explained. "She almost died then because she refused to take the bottle from anyone, that was until Zero came. I guess Zero was too stubborn for taking that from her. He simply approached her again and again until she accepted him."

The rest of classes went fine that day and I even managed to stay awake during the remaining classes but I could see Zero dozing off once or twice. Though, he didn't get caught again.

_I guess he really got his lucky day today._

-

* * *

xox

* * *

-

Class change was almost boring as class had been, as most of the day class girls were behaving nicely again. Our patrol seemed to turn out almost as boring as class change had been, that was until we had almost finished our round about around midnight. We just had checked that all vampires were still in their supposed classes and went towards the back entry, checking for possible day class students, who might be trying to sneak around.

"Zero?" I asked because he had suddenly stopped next to me. He tilted his head as if listening for something. I noticed him trembling slightly then his face had paled visibly as if in shock.

I touched his shoulder, making him look at me. "Zero, are you all right?" He tightened under my touch and nodded but then went still again after a few seconds.

"Yuki!" Zero jerked away from my touch only to clutch my hand instead. "Something happened, there…" He pointed towards the stairs, which lead towards the back door. He fell into a slight run and I followed as well as I could with my hand still clutched in his.

"Here, there's blood." He whispered, shivering again as he let go of my hand and knelt down, motioning for me to follow him. Zero was right, there was blood on the floor and a day class girl. I knelt down too and took a closer look at her, realizing with rising dread that she wasn't moving.

_She couldn't be dead, could she? _I swallowed and pulled her hair away from her neck. No, I thought, but yet they were there.

"She'd been bitten, Zero," I replied having seen the twin marks on her neck. I felt for a pulse and sighed in relief. "She's only unconscious. We need to get her to the Infirmary."

"Yeah," Zero agreed and pulled her into his arms and stood up with a slightly shaken motion but continued to move towards our infirmary.

So, we brought her there and went after doing our remaining patrol to father's office, reporting this incident. I know father had been really worried then, especially as it turned out next day, that the girl in question didn't remember anything what happened to her. Only, that implied that the only vampire, who could be responsible for this would be a noble - which put practically all of night class under suspicion.

Well, there was a problem with the latter as all night class students had been in class, at least as far as Zero and I knew. There had been no one missing from class this night and Zero had been all the time with me, not that I would ever believe him of capable doing this.

_Then, who did this?_

Well, because of this, father ordered a temporary school break for all of us.

Next day Zero and I went to father's office as requested by him cause he wanted to speak with us about inspecting this incident. We hadn't even entered the office fully when Zero muttered something unintelligible, which sounded suspiciously like damned. He was staring at something or someone in father's office and stopped moving into a sudden halt.

"Zero?" I asked but then I realized that he was staring at none other than Kaname-senpai, who stood near the window, discussing something with father, Ichijo and Shiki.

"Kuran." He said hoarsely.

"Kiryu."

They were both glaring at the other and I couldn't help but stare at both of them. Zero hadn't used any honorific and neither had Kaname, again. It was almost like that last time during class change when they had been staring at each other, only that Kaname was returning the glare now.

I knew that they didn't like each other but acting like this, it was just plain rude. Reminded me kind of two angry dogs, no, make that wolves, snarling at each other. They kept staring at each other like this, neither of them moving or saying anything -- or in other words: utter threat ridden silence.

Then as if to break this uncomfortable silence, Kaname-senpai smiled at me and left the office with a bow faster than I could react to. _What had just happened?_

I stared behind him and then turned around only to find Ichijo-senpai smirking at me.

"Don't worry," He pointed towards the empty place where Kaname and Zero had been, just minutes before and his smirk turned into a real smile. "They'll be coming around."

"Yes, you can trust him," Shiki added grinning wildly. "She can, can't she, Takuma?"

Ichijo ruffled Shiki's hair in return. "Yep."

"Hey, I'm not a dog!"

"You aren't, Senri?" Ichijo asked with a single raised brow then shrugged. "Oh, right you aren't. I'm sorry."

"The heck you're sorry!" Shiki objected and returned the favour.

"Ehem?" Father interrupted and both went silent. "Yuki, Zero I think you know why I've called you here, right?"

"Oh, it's about the girls, isn't it, headmaster?" I replied.

"Yes, it is Yuki-san."

"But why are those two here?" Zero interrupted, snorting annoyed.

"Well, Kaname-kun sent them to help us in our investigation." He explained. "As you might know this incident is threatening the whole existence of Night Class." He sighted sadly. "And my dream of peace."

"But why do we need them?"

"Because you can't be there every time, disciplinary committee, now can you?" Shiki replied with a smug smile.

"Kuran_-senpai_ trusts you?" Zero asked with a raised eyebrow but it sounded more like he had wanted truly to ask ''_trust you to behave yourselves'._

"Oh, naturally." Ichijo replied smiling warmly at Zero.

Zero snorted but finally shrugged. "Oh, well." He agreed but his face-expression said differently.

"It can't be anyone of us, Kiryu-kun," Ichijo objected. "I would've smelled it, believe me."

"Yes, and you saw us all in class at this time, didn't you?" Shiki added with a dry smile, supporting Ichijo.

After some arguing from Zero we agreed that they would keep watch during night in addition to our usual patrolling and Zero and I would do so during day class.

So, class went back to normal -- until the next day class girl fainted, during riding class no less and again she didn't remember anything of it. Zero and I were at first as confused as we were before but then it was actually White Lily, who helped us finding our quarry.

That was cause Zero noticed her threatening one of the day class boys who had come too late and had to ride her. Whatever the boy tried Lily moved out of his reach and glared at him with laid-back ears, looking every bit the bad tempered horse out of hell she was. So, far that was normal but her behaviour was out of the ordinary since she didn't let him even close enough for him to have a chance of touching her. Normally she would just kick you when you tried to mount her and done with it but this was more than that.

"Yuki," he said to me with a deep frown on his face. "That boy, he doesn't smell right."

I followed his glance and he was right that boy, who was struggling with Lily right now, felt kind of odd to me, too. He was a head shorter than Zero and looked not unpleasant but for him being a bit skinny but it was his eyes, which made me feel uncomfortable; there was a strange glint in them. I went closer to Zero, so the others wouldn't overhear us.

"He's like you, isn't he? An level D vampire, isn't he?" He had to be, for he was here with us in the bright daylight. I know from the others, that they felt very uncomfortable and weak if they were forced to be out in the daylight, so there was no other option to what this boy was.

"Yes, he is," Zero agreed and then his frowned deepened even more. "But he shouldn't be here at all."

"Shizuka?" I looked questioningly at Zero who just shook his head at this.

"I don't know, may be; but I doubt she was interested in anybody but me, I think." He shrugged. "But no doubt there had to be a pureblood around here." He narrowed his eyes, never keeping the boy out of his sight and his body had become tight with growing uneasiness.

He was right if that boy wasn't bitten so far back in the past as Zero had been, the pureblood had to be around here, which was not a nice thought for the only other pureblood here was Kaname-senpai. I refused to think of him this way; Kaname-senpai would never do something like this … would he? I shivered suddenly even if it was warm enough to make sweat under my school uniform.

"All right, what do we do?" We had to do something about him, so much was clear; it was our duty to do so. I frowned at Zero then seeing as he was fiddling with his bloody rose gun. "You won't … you know?"

"I don't know, Yuki. I guess it really depends on him." He motioned me to follow him, which I did but I made sure not coming too close to Lily. I didn't felt like being hit by one of her hooves.

"Yuki." He sighed. "You know I don't relish in doing so." His voice was very serious with just the slightest hint of a tremble in it but I think it was hard for him admitting something like this.

"I know." I whispered back, but I couldn't help remembering that day, seeing Zero standing over that Level E, shooting him. No, I guess he hadn't wanted to have to kill that vampire I thought and gasped suddenly, realizing that with all his hate for vampires he didn't really wanted to kill all of them but he pretended that nothing had changed. I think, now, he saw it as his duty towards humans. It was duty not pleasure to him but I think it amused him greatly, letting them think he wanted really to kill them all.

"Yuki?" Zero gave me a worried gaze. "You all right?"

"I'm fine, Zero." I smiled.

We had reached the boy, who had been so busy fighting with Lily that he hadn't heard our approach. I took a closer look at him; he looked fairly normal to me and I couldn't find any sign s of madness. Yet, it was obvious that he was nervous about something.

"What is your name?" I asked him and he jerked back, startling Lilly to walk a little further from us. Not a full-fledged bolt like last time but she just went out of our reach eying us suspiciously. Zero and I ignored her for the time being.

"W-What are you doing here?" He was staring at us with wide eyes.

"To take you to the headmaster's office, that's why we're here." I said. "What's your name?"

"Daichi." He replied. "Why? I haven't done anything wrong, have I?"

"That has to be seen." Zero glared at him and after a quick look around to make sure we three we're not overheard. "Vampire." He spat out and drew his gun, pointing it leisurely at the boy in front of him.

"No!" He trembled violently. "I am not …" He began but trailed off fast, his shoulders sunken. He looked down and after a long uncomfortable silence back up to us. "How?" He murmured. "How do you know?" He narrowed his eyes looking from me to Zero and back, his frown deepening by the minute.

"Doesn't matter how," Zero replied while giving the boy another one of his infamous glares. "But you're coming with us, now." He motioned the boy to move before him with his gun, which the boy did after blanching visibly.

Later that day, Yagari-sensei had taken over our prefect duties this time during class change so Zero and I could remain with the boy in father's office. We were not alone with him anymore for Ichijo and Shiki were here too now.

"So, I take it you bit both girls, am I right?" Ichijo repeated slowly, looking at the boy with thoughtful expression, after he had been listening to Zero and me for what had transpired during the day.

Daichi simply nodded and kept staring at the wall.

"How did you do it then?" Zero frowned at him, for he was clearly confused how a level D vampire could've done what he had. He shouldn't have been able to make the girls forget what happened, no, not at all.

"I just did… I felt so ashamed of what I-I did that I wished that no one would remember…" He trembled slightly and hugged himself. "...but it hurts so bad." He whimpered.

"I see," Ichijo replied in turn. "And do you remember how this all started? I mean when were you bitten, Daichi-kun?"

The boy shook his head. "I don't remember -- clearly. All there was, before this … was nightmare."

"You don't remember being bitten by anyone?" Ichijo leaned closer pushing him further to reveal more, ignoring the obvious discomfort the boy was in.

"No … yes, but … it-it was a dream." Daichi stammered.

"Looks like it wasn't one, after all." Zero smirked at the boy.

"Did you see anybody in that dream?" I added but gave Zero a disapproving gaze and poked him into his sides. Why did he have to be so rough with the boy? I mean Zero should be able to understand him better than the rest of us. Or was this just too close to home for Zero?

I took a closer look at him and yes, I could see his eyes twitching slightly while he kept watching the boy; it wasn't much but it was there. The whole existence of Daichi made Zero nervous.

Daichi looked up to me and shook his head in defeat. "No, not clearly but I think it was a man."

"This man, how did he look like?" Ichijo questioned.

"He … was t-tall and … all dark, so dark." Daichi said and his trembles became even more violent. He was shivering and shaking and had to lean against the wall behind him for support.

"It's enough!" Father interrupted and gave us four a disapproving glance. "You won't get more out of him today." Then he nodded towards Shiki and Ichijo. "Would you two take him to Moon Dormitory?"

"Of course headmaster," Shiki replied exchanging a short look with Ichijo. "We will take him after matters are settled, won't we?"

"Of course." Ichijo smiled at Shiki and turned his attention back to father and us.

"He's not level E yet." Ichijo said after listening to the boy for a while. "He surely needs watching but I'm more worried about the one who did this to him." Ichijo frowned. "It is forbidden to create them, ex-humans, I mean -- and whoever did this is either doing it for a purpose or was just careless." He swallowed. "I'm afraid right now we can only wait and keep our eyes open."

"We cannot ignore that." Zero replied but his voice almost a grumble out of frustration. "There has to something we can do." He muttered.

"No, you're right we cannot ignore it but we can't rush it either." Ichijo agreed but shook his head at the same time.

"Ichijo is right," Shiki added and looked at my father. "Headmaster if this goes out …"

"It would destroy Cross Academy and my dream of peace." He swallowed. "Have you any idea who could be responsible for this?"

"Not yet, I'm afraid." Ichijo said and gave us all a serious glance. He then turned his gaze back to the boy, who had remained silent during the rest of the conversation. He was still shivering with his arms around his knees. Ichijo then fingered for something in his pocked and came up with a small box of sorts and threw it to the boy. "Here try it with these."

It were blood tablets, I realized and looked back to Ichijo. "You think they might work?" I asked, remembering that they didn't quite work for Zero.

Ichijo shrugged. "Well, they might, Yuki-san. You know it's not all ex-humans, who can't digest them, only part of them." He looked briefly at Zero and smiled.

"That means?" Zero knitted his brows; he had a strange glint in his eyes, which was close to his usual glare but not quite. I think it would be hard for him, if Daichi, another level D vampire would be able to take the tablets without problems. On the other side, I think, Zero would be glad that he hadn't have to kill the boy, yet.

"That we have a fifty-fifty chance of getting him under control, at least for the time being." Shiki shrugged.

"I still don't understand how he made them forget." I murmured.

"I always could do things," the boy suddenly whispered. "Ever since I was thirteen."

I think we must have all stared at him because he retreated even farther into his corner, where he was seated, poor thing.

"What things?" I asked but my thoughts kept spinning. Daichi, he had to be a mutant -- but now he was a mutant, who was also vampire. My thoughts went back to Marie then. Marie had been a mutant too, maybe she could help us understanding him, this boy; but I said nothing cause I didn't wanted to spoil Marie's secret to Ichijo and Shiki. She hadn't given us permission do so after all.

"With my mind, I make people do things sometimes." He closed his eyes, obviously remembering his past. "There was this girl once, I wished to get a date with and just after thinking that she just asked me out."

"Does it always work?" Father asked in a serious voice.

"No, it doesn't."

"Headmaster if you don't mind, we'd like to move him to Moon Dormitory now." Ichijo said to father.

"Oh, yes, of course. Do that Ichijo-kun." He nodded to emphasize his approval.

Ichijo and Shiki then left the room taking the boy with them.

I sighed realised it was now only Zero, father and me here, who remained so it would be safe to tell him about Marie.

"Father?"

"Yes, Yuki-chan?" He gave me a puzzled but kind look.

"I might know somebody who might be able to help with this." I began in a quiet voice.

"You mean Marie-san, don't you?" He nodded in understanding.

"Yes," I said and shook may head. "How did you know?

"Cause I've known the professor of her prior school for long time. Professor Xavier and I had a lot in common; we both wanted peace." He swallowed. "And yes I knew about Marie being a mutant."

"She isn't anymore, headmaster." Zero said. "She took the cure."

Father gave him a disproving look but nodded after a moment. I knew he wanted Zero to call him father too, but Zero insisted that he wasn't his father. In a way Zero was right, father hadn't exactly adopted him but wasn't he all but a father to him, too?

"Father, we are rather sure the boy's a mutant, too." I added and my gaze met Zero's for a short moment, asking for support, which he returned with a nod.

"And if you know this professor, can't he help us?"

"I'm afraid not, Yuki-chan." Father sighed in defeat. "He would but the last I heard of says he's dead and I don't know the others enough to trust them with our secret."

"I see." I nodded. "But maybe it's enough if Marie is helping us?"

Father frowned at this, giving us both an intense look.

"Marie knows about vampires," I said in return but that resulted only of him deepening his frown.

"She knows about Night Class?"

"No, just about Zero and that vampires do exist. Father yourself said to me we could tell her as much needed and I trust Marie."

"All right, Yuki-chan," He agreed finally, "Zero-kun. I'll be thinking about it but we have to keep our Night Class' secret. Do you understand?"

"We do, don't we, Zero?" I answered for both of us and after Zero nodded his agreement father gave us permission to involve Marie in this.

Zero and I asked Marie to meet us in father's office.

"So, what's this why you two called me here?" Marie asked with barely contained curiosity. "To the headmaster's office?" She kept staring at us curiously.

"Because we're alone here." I explained to her.

"We can't risk to be overheard." Zero added in hushed impatient tone.

"Um, yes." She nodded slowly.

"Marie, there's something we've to ask you first." I said in serious voice. "There's something we need to speak with you about but … well, it has to stay among us three, do you understand?"

"Hmm, yes, I think I do." She frowned slightly but nodded then. "This, has it anything to do with vampires?"

"Yes, that's a way to put it." Zero replied dryly. "But yes, it's about vampires or one of them."

I turned around and poked Zero in the side, having heard that remark. "And so are you." I mouthed silently but looked up because I heard Marie giggling behind us. I think we must have both stared at her because she made a funny face at us.

"You know you two guys are quite obvious, do you know?" Marie explained. "Let me guess, you need help because you two found a mutant, don't you?"

"Yes, how do you know?" We both replied in kind and Marie laughed even harder. She was right this was funny, us acting like this.

"Easy, you two seem to be really familiar with vampires so I doubt you need my help for that, which only left mutants as an answer."

"She's right," Zero said to me and shook his head, turning back to Marie. "But you're wrong in a way. It's a bit more complicated than that because our problem is the mutant we found is also a vampire."

"And that's why it's so important to keep this quiet, do you understand Marie?" I added and gave her long look. Marie had to understand that this shouldn't, couldn't go any farther then beyond the three of us, it was essential if we didn't wanted the situation to escalate.

My words were followed by an intense silence until Marie finally nodded.

"I'll try what I can." She said. "But I haven't much experience in this. It would be much better if you let me call my friends for help."

"Marie." Zero glared at her.

"Okay."

We led her to Moon Dorm after class change today and introduced her to Daichi. We didn't let her alone with him, of course, but it turned out that Marie really could help us in his case.

After speaking a while with him she turned back to us, head slightly shaking. "He's a telepath of sorts, but very weak compared to the ones I've seen back home. His power works only on people who are either unaware or weak minded."

"Weak minded," I repeated and Marie nodded in return.

"Sounds like this force stuff to me." Zero snorted and stood up, pacing slightly from one side to the other.

"Nevertheless, it is real." Marie objected, seeming slightly offended by his remark.

"Never said I didn't believe it." Zero replied dryly.

"It's okay Marie-chan," I said trying to explain that it was just Zero's attitude to anything and nothing personal.

"Do you think he needs help controlling them, his powers I mean?"

Marie shook her head. "I really doubt it. You see his powers are really minor compared to the things I was used to be around."

"Oh, right."

So, this was how that day ended with Cross Academy losing a day class student and gaining a new night class student instead; even if it had been unintentionally and things were fine again, at least for a while, so I thought, at least here at Cross Academy for we had tried to keep the recent events as quiet as possible.

That's what I thought then, but something must have leaked after all for when I went to see father in his office a few days later I found him not alone. I stopped before I could open the door, course it was already half opened and I could hear voices. Not, again, I thought, remembering the last time something like this happened. Only then it had turned out well but this time? I kept frozen in place trying to make as little noise as possible. Oh, yes, I know it's bad to eardrop, but I couldn't help it then.

"You know Yagari-san is being friendly, Kaein-san." The voice said in a very smooth tone. Pleasant to hear but I made me cringe, course it felt somehow wrong -- and creepy. "He seems to know father well," I thought, having realized him using father's first name instead of the more formal surname.

"But there are many of us who think that we should act before it's too late." He said with serious voice. "They're comparing vampires to mutants -- and as they have a cure for the latter, they beginning to think that both are diseases. Only we have no cure against vampirism so that leaves us with only one solution."

"Destroy them," Father replied, his voice sounded old and shaken. "They're thinking seriously to … destroy them all?"

"I'm afraid so."

After that I heard nothing for a while. Well, I could hear father swallowing once or twice.

"Don't they think of the consequences of doing so?"

"I'm afraid no. No, I think it's even worse. The people, I speak of, consider destroying all pureblood vampires and any other vampire they could find. They don't want any pureblood to be left alive to be able to strike back."

"That's madness, Numei-san."

"I know." He laughed wryly. It sent shivers down my spine. Who was this man? He was obviously from the Hunters Association and seemed to be in a leading position because he wouldn't have known about this otherwise. The Association doesn't have a very open information policy; at least that is what I know from Zero, Father and even Yagari-sensei.

"And you can do truly nothing about it?"

"Sadly, no, they have more influence on the council than I ever had."

"But you're the president Numei-san."

"Yeah, I am but it means nothing if the council votes against me."

Father sighed at this. "Who's really behind this?"

The other man swallowed too this time and I could almost hear him shaking his head. "I'm not sure Kaein. I have my suspicion but that is all I have. I don't have any proof."

"And without proof you have no chance to convince the council about this danger."

"Correct."

Again, a long pause, at least it felt like that to me.

"Kaein, I'm afraid but I have to leave, you know."

"I know but I'm glad you came to me with this."

"No problem, that's what friends are for. I'll see you around Kaein-san."

"Yes, you too."

I move quietly out of sight from his office and waited some more. I could see a man leaving and after he was gone, I approached his office again and knocked, once, twice until he said I could enter.

"Father?"

"Yuki-chan?" He asked with slightly knitted brows, because it was already quite late today. It was far after midnight and my patrol was finished hours ago.

"Is that true what he said?" I asked but my voice wasn't more than a whisper because it came out so weak.

"You heard it," Father replied and sighed tiredly. "Come here." He motioned towards the other chair in his office. "It's better you sit down, Yuki."

I did what father said and sat down all the while feeling mixed feelings of dread and curiosity coursing in through me.

"Father, do they really want to do that? Destroy all vampires?"

"Yes, I'm afraid, they do."

"What about peace? Aren't they afraid all that what you build up so hard?"

Father swallowed deeply again, and stopped fiddling with his glasses like he had done so for the whole time.

"Yuki, peace, it was always mine, and to a certain degree Yagari-san's goal." He explained in a grave voice. "Sadly, it was never theirs. I'm afraid but I think they never had peace with vampires in mind -- it was only a necessary, not more."

"B-but there had to be something…"

"We can do?" He shook his head. "No, there isn't. I wished it weren't so."

At this I left his office and walked back to my room. I had to be alone for a while, had to think. I hoped tomorrow would turn into a quiet day but I had an uneasy sleep this night. I woke several times and when I finally could sleep I was woken up by a loud noise.

I was straight awake after that, sitting upright in my bed. "What had just happened?" That noise, I shook my head, it sounded too much like a gunshot. Just like the ones sounded when Zero was doing target practice, only louder. It had dull after-sound and I felt ill all of a sudden.

I didn't really know then what it meant but I learned it fast enough that day, because Zero and I were ordered to my father's office after the first two classes.

Father wasn't alone this time but this time it was Yagari-sansei, who was waiting for us, together with father.

"Master," Zero said after seeing him there. "What's this about?"

"Yes, father, why are we here?" I added.

Yagari looked from father to us and back; finally he shrugged. "It's because of that boy you brought in two days ago."

"Daichi-kun?" I asked. "What's about him?" I took a closer look to him and especially father -- father looked sad. Oh, that couldn't be anything good.

"He's dead, Yuki-chan." Father said to me in a voice, which was almost a whisper.

"How? How can he be dead?" Zero paced up and forth.

"Zero, it's because the two bitten girls," Yagari-sensei explained. "Takeshi and Katashi's father arrived a day ago. He said he had been worried about his sons and arrived here a day after I sent my report to the Association." I noticed that Yagari-sensei kept staring at the floor like he couldn't meet our or especially Zero's eyes.

"What are you trying to tell me?" Zero all but yelled at his former master and shook him, he was that mad.

"Zero, I -- Mori-san shot the boy this morning." He said flatly.

"He what?!" Zero growled in disbelief. "That boy wasn't an level E and not on the list, was he?"

Zero suddenly grew very silent.

Yagari-sensei just shook his head in defeat, dead was dead and there was nothing he could do.

Well, I couldn't stop staring at Zero, for he was getting all flustered and angry about the death of a vampire -- something I would've never believed months ago but Zero was on the verge of shaking Yagari-sensei all because of that.

"What about this Mori-_sama_? Can't you do something?" Zero argued and began to pace. "He broke the rules, didn't he?"

"I'm afraid I can't. It's my word against his. I might be the Association's top-hunter but he has a lot more influence then I will ever have." Yagari-sensei shook his head in what looked very much like defeat.

"But!?"

"I'm sorry."

Bang!

Zero had left the room and left me with father and Yagari-sensei alone.

"I'm sorry." I muttered. "He shouldn't have to …"

"No, Yuki, it's all right. I should've been better prepared." Yagari-sensei shook his head. "I should have know that he would do something like this -- with his boys here at the Academy."

"Yes, Yagari-san is right. Mori-san isn't exactly known for being even-tempered." Father explained.

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_Thank you for reading!_

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Reviews are always welcome for they make me happy and keep me writing ...

Miarath


	5. Messed Up

finally

Change of Heart - Chapter Five

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

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**Messed Up**

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Next morning school started as quiet and subdued as the day before had been but everything seemed to be back to normal. That was until I caught Marie giving us strange looks every now and then during class. Something was definitely bothering her.

"Marie?" I asked after first class was finished. "What's wrong?"

"Wrong?" She repeated slowly then snorted. "Everything, the boy … Daichi. I thought that it was planned for me to meet him every few days or so -- but now I've been told there wouldn't be any further meetings. What's happened? H-Have I done anything wrong?"

"Marie…" I began but my voice broke. How should I tell her this?

"The boy's dead, Marie-san." Zero said instead of me.

"He is dead?" Marie stared at us with big unbelieving eyes. "Why?"

"Because that darn bastard of a wannabe-hunter killed him!" Zero's voice was still low, almost soft, but there was so much fervour in it that I had to took a double look at him. His eyes bore the steely grey of an approaching storm front, I noticed with a growing uneasy feeling. "_So, angry," _I thought_, " you've really taken this to heart, haven't you?"_

Zero might hate vampires with every part of his being but never ever hurt somebody he felt responsible for -- and in a weird sense that was what Zero felt about this, despite the boy being a vampire. He had found the boy and ditto it had been his duty to take care of; and now I think he felt like he failed him, Daichi.

"He wasn't dangerous, was he?" She added after another giving us another thoughtful look.

"No, he wasn't." I said. "He was very docile as far as I remember." Yes, docile, that was exactly what Ichijo had said about how the boy had turned out to be. Yes, he had been behaving and I think at least Ichijo or Kaname had him under their control so it was indeed very questionable on why that man had gone out and took the right in his own hands.

"Then why?" Marie queried, her voice turning so shrill I could taste how much this unsettled her.

"Because --" Zero tried to answer but his voice broke in mid-sentence then swallowed uncomfortable. "Course he was a vampire." I could barely understand him then because his voice had been so quiet but I guess it was loud enough for Marie to hear for her stare became a painfully accusing glare instead.

Silence, uneasy shameful silence that was what followed then, so thick I could taste it on my lips but I didn't know what to do to break it. What could I say to make it better? Nothing.

"This is sick." Marie spat out finally.

"I know." I agreed quietly, noticing the amount of anguish showing on her face. Did we disgust her that much? I wondered briefly and looked down because I suddenly couldn't bear to meet her eyes. _Our world was really a cruel one I guess._

"And?"

"And what?" I replied yet kept staring at my feet. What was she up to; the boy was dead and there was nothing we could do so why kept she questioning us?

"What are you going to do about it?" Marie queried agitated. "You can't let this man getting away with murder like this… Can you?"

"_Murder, oh right, that's how this would be looking to her."_ I thought and met her eyes again. Her question, Marie had voiced it in such an innocent manner -- I never realized how different our worlds truly were, until now. I never really looked at it from that point of view. I guess we both haven't because we were staring at her, not knowing what to say. How should we explain this to her? Oh, I know Marie knew about vampires from us then -- but until know I hadn't realised thatshe truly_ knew nothing about our world._

"You can't be serious?" She nearly screamed at us. "N-Nothing?"

"Not so loud." Hissed Zero. "And there's nothing we can do about it." He explained and cursed under his breath, murmuring angry unintelligible little things to himself.

"Marie, it's not quite as you think…" I began but trailed off.

"It's not that we're having exactly a choice in this matter." Zero stated, his voice sounding strangely dry. "Because he abided to the rules, that is."

"Rules?" She repeated and her eyes went big. "You're a hunter too -- and that weapon of yours, it's for vampires, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I am or was." Zero agreed slowly.

Again there was silence between us as she gave us another thoughtful look, seemingly not knowing what to do now.

"Those rules, what do they contain?"

"Marie, there's something you need to know." I looked up to Zero, thoughtfully. "Vampires, who were once human are bound to become mad at some point." I explained and felt the familiar pain welling up inside. I couldn't think about this … this truth; a truth that would cost me Zero at some point in the future. I fought down a sniffle.

"They turn into something only barely human, completely controlled by their hunger for blood." Zero added with a voice, which seemed so cold and distant, so bare of emotions that I thought I could almost feel droplets of ice on his lips. Oh, well, that's impossible, Zero hasn't got such a power but it was enough for me to shiver in response.

"Which meant every new ex-human, a vampire of human origin would have to be watched -- and if necessary destroyed." I continued.

"And this, this guy, he thought that Daichi, was that? Dangerous?" She grabbed us at our uniforms at this, slightly shaking us and we let her.

"No." We both said at once.

"But those rules, they're binding you?"

"Yeah." Zero agreed coolly. "You've got no idea how much they do."

"Because you've been a hunter?"

"Yeah, that too, but it's more because we need to keep the peace." He admitted and I gasped at this. Zero admitting that father's ideals were his too? Since when had he changed his mind that much?

"Marie," I said, taking her hand in mine, " this peace it's all what keeps this place secure." My voice trembled. "Because there had been not always peace between vampires and humans." I whispered. "Once there had been war, a very long time ago."

"And because of this, please keep this quite, Marie." I let her hand go. "You don't have any idea how important this is."

She stared at us, again then nodded slowly. "I see -- but this isn't easy for me. Accepting things like that." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then turned around.

"Please don't be mad, but I need some time alone." She left and we shouldn't see her for the rest of the day -- she skipped class.

I tried not to think too much about, about what she said -- but I couldn't because in a way she had been right: killing Daichi had been murder.

Or may be more like self-justice with Mori-sama acting as jury, judge and hangman.

-

* * *

xox

* * *

-

In the end it turned out to be a really long day, complete with detention but I guess class change went down more smoothly than on most days seeing as mad Zero was. Yes, he was angry to a point I doubted the day class girls would even think of trying to slip behind us.

At times like that I swear I could almost see, feel and taste his anger; just like now but this, it was more than anger. No, anger alone would never make him this upset. He was disappointed about father and about himself, I think. It was just him, brooding like that, thinking about on how he could've stopped Mori-sama killing the boy.

Truth to be told, I was upset too; I was upset about father. How could father allow it? How could he allow such an act of _war_ with all his ranting about peace? Speaking of father, where was he?

First he had us ordered to his office and now it looked like he wouldn't even show up at all.

"Father," I murmured to myself," how could you do that?" How could he allow it, shooting someone like that? I just hoped Zero wouldn't have to meet this Mori_-sama_ -- I wasn't sure what he would do at all but his storm coloured eyes spoke of nothing good.

But Zero and I weren't the only ones being upset, poor Ichijo, I thought. It had been his job of taking care of Daichi and now he must be feeling awful, too.

"Zero," I murmured and pulled him into a hug course there wasn't anything else I could do. I didn't wanted to let him go, ever. Now, I thought I could hear the faintest beginning of a sob trying to break through but he willed it down and went stiff in my arms but that was so very like him. I hugged him tighter then for there wasn't anything else I could do to comfort him.

Only then I heard voices from outside. Father, I noticed -- and Kaname? I motioned Zero to stay quiet because I wanted to listen. _What was he discussing with Kaname-senpai?_

"I don't know, Kaname-kun, but I don't think it would really help." Father said slowly, shaking his head. "Actually, I think it would make the situation even worse."

"I see." Kaname agreed, "It's about me being pureblood, isn't it?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is."

"Oh, hello Yuki-chan, Zero-kun," father greeted us after seeing that we're waiting in his office.

"Hi," I replied.

"Headmaster." Zero nodded and then his eyes flickered to Kaname. "Kuran."

"Zero." Kaname replied with smile, a smile, which grew even wider as he watched Zero's startled look.

"Um, hello Kana…" I began but stopped in mid-sentence. _He had said 'Zero', his first name without honorifics … _I stared at him and then at Zero, who simply shrugged it off like saying that he didn't knew anything about it either.

_Who was this person in front of me?_ The Kaname I knew had never used Zero's first name and in such a private way to boot. Even weirder, Zero didn't react with a glare but with a look of simple puzzlement. _What was going on?_

"Ehem," father interrupted. "The reason why I called you two here was that I wanted to inform you about the latest state considering Daichi-kun."

"Yes?" We both replied.

"It's about the reason I act as I do. I know you're both upset about what transpired," he began with a slight shake of his head, " and I can understand you both, better you might think but --"

"But?"

"The peace, my Academy's peace, I cannot forsake it."

"Not even for justice?" I queried.

"No, not even for justice." Father swallowed deeply. "No, please you've got to understand me in this. I cannot do more; not, if it would mean to plunge us into the middle of a new war."

"Things are already that bad?" Zero asked but his voice was nearly a whisper.

"I'm afraid they are." It was Kaname-senpai who had stayed quite the whole time but now he answered instead of father, giving us both a stern look. "If you want his dream to survive," he continued gesturing towards father, "you've got to keep this quiet."

-

* * *

xox

* * *

-

Later that night, things were still awfully quiet and subdued, so quiet in fact we ended our patrol early but none of us felt like returning to our dorm to sleep, which brought us here.

We went outside to that place near the old oak tree, just a few feet away from the lake, like we had done many a time before. It was just a good place to think -- and to be alone. I was leaning against the three, noticing dimly the fallen leaves beneath my feet. It was already becoming autumn. Grey stormy autumn, just like him, like Zero. I looked up to see him still pacing, up and down.

"Zero?"

"It's all wrong," he uttered in a hoarse voice, "but they call it right."

"I know, father should've done something"

"He couldn't Yuki." Zero swallowed deeply and continued pacing. "Mori-_sama_ had an order from the Association to watch the boy -- and if he deems him dangerous he was given the order to kill him."

"But he wasn't … dangerous I mean."

"In the long sight, no he wasn't -- but he bit those girls, Yuki. You shouldn't forget that because from the Association's side it meant _he_ was dangerous."

"But with him gone we won't have any way finding the one who did it to him."

"Yeah, that's right."

"Um, Zero, how long does it take? Turning, I mean." I said thoughtfully.

He said nothing for a long while but then nodded. "Difficult to say, Yuki. I guess it's from a few days up to years." He whispered back, as if his mouth were suddenly dry at this.

"Like you?"

"Yeah, like me." He shrugged and suddenly took my hand.

"Come, let's go."

I thought at first he meant to end our patrol for good and return to Sun Dorm but I noticed quickly that we're heading back to the main building.

"Zero, where are we going to?"

"There's something I want to show you." He explained in quiet hushed tones and went on walking. We went beyond class rooms up to father's office I realized but Zero didn't stop there. _What did he have in mind?_

He opened the door to father's workroom, the place where he kept his books and other things. Zero went straight for the library, giving it a hard look. Then after frowning a little more he removed one of the books from it. It looked old, so old that I could recognize it being ancient even in the dim light here for Zero hadn't bothered to turn on any of the lamps.

"Zero?"

"Here," he said and went to father's desk, finally turning on its desk lamp so I could see the book in detail for the first time. It seemed to be even older than I guessed with its leather cover and pages made of vellum but there were no signs of dust on it so it had been used recently.

"Vampire laws?" I frowned.

"Yeah, you didn't think all we learn is how to kill them?" He smirked.

"I don't know, I haven't thought much about it."

"I know. Well, It's just that I got an idea of about finding that unknown pureblood."

"And this book will help us?"

"Yep, see it's been you're question about turning, which brought me on this." He sat down and opened the book. "Look here, the time it does for someone takes to turn depends on two - no actually three things."

"Age of the pureblood?"

"Yeah, it's not really surprising, is it? If someone where to be bitten by a very old one, that means at least a few hundred years old pureblood, it speeds up the process of turning dramatically."

"But it's logical, isn't it? The very old ones are the most powerful, aren't they?"

"Yes, to most of them but that's no correct science since nobody really knows what they're really capable of." He shrugged. "The next is will. If the victim's mind is weak turning takes only days and worse, meaning decent to level E gets speeded up too." His voice was wavering at the last sentence.

I took his hand with out a word. "But not you, you're not weak-minded, Zero."

"I hope so."

"Zero, what's the last factor you've mentioned?"

"The last?" He muttered then sighed. "It's how much blood the pureblood took; how close the victim came to dying instead of turning."

"How's that related to the others?"

He didn't answer at first but grabbed my arm instead. "Yuki, it shouldn't have taken nearly four years for me to turn. I almost died then." His voice was so hoarse I could hardly make it out.

"I should've died then."

"No!" I protested and pulled him close to me, hugging him tightly.

"No…. please don't say … such things…"

He didn't and stayed silent but then he returned my hug, pulling me closer until I sat on his lap and I think I would've felt awkward if it hadn't hurt so much: thinking about him dying, Zero dying.

_No, I couldn't think about that._

"All right." He whispered into my ear, sending shivers along my spine. "I won't, Yuki."

Again silence, but this time it was a pleasant silence and we remained like this for a while longer. "Zero?" I looked up to him. "How does knowing these three things help finding that mysterious pureblood?"

"Because he had to be near or even inside Cross Academy to turn the boy," he replied, " and might be still around. Maybe rousing uproar among the Association was his plan."

"So, he planned the boy's dead." Thinking of such coldness, it sent shivers of dread down my spine. How could anyone be that cold?

"Very likely."

I nodded slowly, thinking about his words. "What about the blood bond?"

"What!?" He choked and jerked back so strongly that I fell almost down but he caught me before anything could happen.

"I mean he had to had one with Daichi or not? I mean Shizuka had one with you so it should be the same here." I explained.

"Yeah, of course you're right." He shook his head like trying to get something out of his head. "It's just thinking about that makes my skin crawl, Yuki. I don't like being controlled."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, it's all right." He whispered -- and did then something I didn't see coming.

He leaned in closer to me, cupping my chin … was he going to kiss me? I kept staring at him but I didn't anything to stop him.

He came closer then stopped suddenly and changed direction, kissing me on my cheek.

"Zero?" I asked not being sure. _Was I disappointed or glad he kissed my cheek instead?_

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"For what?" I replied but it turned into a yawn.

"N-Nothing," he whispered then added a yawn of his own and motioned for me to get up. "It's almost morning, Yuki. We should go to bed."

"Oh, you're right," I said and yawned again. I really was more tired than I thought and tomorrow was going to be a long day again.

xox

A few days later class turned out to be almost normal and I never thought that day would end in such a mess as it did in the end. Class was normal, the kind of boring normal, which would you normally wish for it to end as fast as possible but I was happy about it for it was a relief from all the stress of the last days.

True, after Mori-sama shot Daichi nothing happened anymore; no more girls were bitten but with Daichi's death it meant also that the chance of finding the one who turned him in the first point was practically moot; well, that is if that mysterious pureblood decided to stay away from Cross Academy. I know Zero thought that he would be still around but I hoped he would stay away. Whoever he was, he couldn't be good for us after all what he done to the boy.

So, yeah, things were back to normal, well, almost. Zero was still very angry but that I could handle. Okay, it was actually an asset because with him in such a bad mood the fan-girls wouldn't even try to try anything but things would go back to normal, eventually, even Zero's mood.

So, there I was, sitting in class together with Zero, Yori and Marie, trying to follow our teacher as he tried to teach us how to deal with polynomials. Yep, really nice but then he suddenly called Marie out. He told her she had a phone call waiting for her and she better get out to the headmaster's office; he was practically ordering her out, leaving no room for a reply from her.

He had given her an icy glare, which made me shiver. No, our teacher seemed not to like her at all, which made me shake my head in confusion. There was nothing about Marie he could be displeased of. Marie didn't snooze off in class, not like me or Zero and she did her best to follow his lessons, so why did he hate her so much?

Marie stayed away for the remaining class but I doubt I'll ever forget the worried expression Marie wore when she came back. The haunted expression in her eyes, which reminded me once again of Zero, right after I found out what he was -- after he had bitten me. She looked like someone who had already lost too much and feared to lose the rest.

I suspected it had something to do with the late news reports, which had been anything but good but there was a high probability that her friends were somehow involved -- and she was here, far away. I tried to comfort her, tried to give her warm smile but no doubt it wasn't enough, it couldn't be. I sighed and turned my mind back to class for it seemed there was nothing I could do about her.

My eyes then met Zero's and I smiled knowing he was probably as bored as I. He didn't smile back, but that was just him and I was used to it so I shrugged it off.

I tried to focus on our teacher's words but … everything became blurry soon. I noticed Zero being asleep next to me before I fell asleep, too. I don't know what exactly happened but I guess somehow my head ended on his shoulder.

"Um, Yuki." I heard dimly. "Zero," I thought, "it's Zero. What does he want?"

"Zero?"

"Um, Yuki, it's time to wake up."

"Wha…" I opened my eyes slightly and yawed. "Ugh, class change," I thought and was suddenly wide-awake.

"Sorry, hadn't meant to doze off like this."

"Yeah, you weren't the only one." He replied wryly.

I looked around realizing we were alone and that the door was locked, again. "We have detention, again?"

"Yeah, of all things but don't worry those chains are no problem to us." Zero smirked at me and I remembered the last time this happened. These chains were made for humans after all and not for vampires. I smiled back then frowned.

"Zero, I think he must be really annoyed of us." I said and pointed at the chain because it looked double as strong as last time.

"And he will be even more annoyed after this." Zero smirked and sent the door flying open with a kick. The lock hadn't even the slightest chance against him.

We reached class change just in time but that was all what went well this time. I don't know what exactly happened or how it did but this class change became a real mess.

Marie was there too, and even Takeshi and Katashi were here, which they normally never were. They hated Night Class, I think. Course they couldn't react any other way -- and they knew that all night class students were vampires. Being born hunters like Zero, I guess they just observed and put one to one together and got four. Truly, if you knew that vampires were real it was rather easy to realize what our Night Class really was. Yet, these day class girls didn't know that so they just saw them as something to adore and go crazy about.

I turned my gaze towards Moon Dorm, that's where Night Class still stood. They were complete this time, I noticed and couldn't help but smile -- and he smiled back. I felt warm inside, just like every time this happened.

Marie was standing on the side, trying to be out of the way and keeping a fair distance to Night Class. I guess she didn't trust them, which was just well; this way we won't have to worry about her, too

I sighed, yeah, she tried to stay away from them but they didn't.

"You're really from America, aren't you?" It was Shiki, who approached Marie. He was giving her one of his best smiles, but I couldn't see any mischief in his eyes, only honest curiosity.

"Yep, she is, Shiki," Aido answered instead of her.

"So, what if I am?" Marie replied with raised eyebrows.

"We are just curious. No offence meant." Shiki replied with an apologizing smile.

"None taken, but it's unimportant."

"You don't like us very much?" Kain added.

"I don't know … maybe, you're just a little too perfect to me." She explained slowly with a sly smile playing around her lips. Whatever she felt, she was not completely unaffected by them but Marie didn't look like she liked it much.

I saw Zero frowning, his gaze travelling between Marie, Kain, Aido and Shiki to the awaiting day class girls on the other side. "Oh, this doesn't look good," I thought," no not at all." They were whispering in hushed, angry tones and kept staring at Marie and the remaining Night Class had yet to come. I hoped this wouldn't turn out like that time when Aido-senpai hugged me in front of his fan-girls. I moved from one leg to the other, feeling very uneasy right now.

I nodded to Zero and tried to drag Marie from Kain and especially Aido, oh, yes especially Aido. I know to well how they react when he is around.

Looking at the day class students again, I noticed that there were boys among them today, weird. Normally, most day class boys were terrible jealous of Night Class, too jealous to want to watch the girls fawn upon their rivals; if you could call them that, rivals. "So, why were they here today?" I wondered.

Zero and I managed to get Marie away from Night Class but that was not fast enough. Even while I pulled Marie away, Aido managed to give Marie a gentlemanlike hand-kiss, which was enough for them to start yelling angry little hurtful things.

And than we were in the midst of crazy fan-girls, who were so enraged that they actually ignored Zero's presence next to me for the time being. It was a mess really; hands, feet, arms and legs mixed with lots of long hair all reaching for Aido-senpai, who simply slipped away leaving us three to deal with them. I heard him chuckle of all things, too.

_Not, funny Aido-senpai!_

Fan-girls were clinging to Marie's hair, Marie taking turns between growling in anger and yelping until she finally shrieked in response as a fan-girl slapped her cheek. Zero growled in response making the girls finally realize that he was there -- and they responded like usual; they moved away in fear.

So, all could be well, don't you think? Normally, that would've been right, Zero would scare the day class students away and we could return to business as usual.

Well, you're wrong.

A girl fainted, but it wasn't the girl who had hit Marie. No, I think Marie trembled backwards and fell into another girl, who in turn tried to catch her fall by clinging to Marie.

I still remember the hollow sound with that she collapsed to the ground, her long blonde braids flying besides her like some kind of flags. She fainted, fell and remained on the floor like a still doll, making the other Day Class students scream in panic. They were talking all at once in confusion and shock.

"No!" "How could this happen?"

"Not Dori…" "She was right beside me and now …"

"Midori isn't breathing…" A short blonde girl cried, holding the other girl, obviously her friend, in her arms.

"She's dying" Another Day Class student, a boy, was kneeling on the other side, feeling for a pulse.

"Somebody help, please!" Another boy yelled, who seemed to be a bit less confused and be able to think a bit more clearly.

"We need to bring her to the infirmary!" I said to Zero. Zero returned my gaze, nodding slowly. "I know, but we can't leave." Zero's gaze flickered from the fallen girl to the remaining Night Class behind us. Zero was right, if we'd left there would be no one left to take care of Day Class, what a misery. "But we have to do something, we can't just let her lie like this."

"I'll do it." I heard a soft voice from behind. I turned around to gaze into Ichijo's soft eyes. "I'll be faster than both of you." He gave us both a questioning gaze. "I won't do anything stupid." He added slowly in a serious voice.

Zero gave him a long serious look and nodded slowly. I mirrored his nod, gaining a shy smile from Ichijo.

"Thank you, Ichijo-senpai." I said to him, which he returned with another nod and went swiftly to the fallen girl. He picked her up and disappeared, using full vampire speed to ensure he was as fast as possible. I hoped it would be enough. For once I didn't care if the others saw this but I doubt that they would notice it right now, they were too shocked by what happened. Well, we could always remove their memories later.

The rest of Day Class just stared after him and the vanished girl. Their gazes were confused, puzzled and completely frightened by what just happened to the girl.

"Hope you'll in time Ichijo-senpai." I prayed to myself and turned around to the remaining Night Class. I noticed that only part of Night Class remained. There were Aido and Kain, as well as Shiki -- and there was Kaname-senpai. I thought he had gone already to class but I guess I was wrong. He smiled towards me and I think I blushed again. I always do this around him; around Kaname-senpai cause he was the one who saved me back then.

I didn't know what to say.

"You'll better go to class." Zero said to Night Class and strangely they obeyed with even a single snide comment. Zero turned back to Day Class, giving them another one of his glares and sighed. "And you better go to sleep now. Return to Sun Dormitory." I turned around to see them slowly nodding but they didn't made any move to do as Zero said.

Again silence.

"So, that's what's going on here." Some one said into this painful stillness. I looked around to find a tall man standing near the main gate. I turned around to see who interrupted us.

"Father!" Takeshi yelled.

I frowned at this; so, this was Mori-sama, Takeshi and Katashi's father and the one who shot Daichi. I could see the similarity between him and his son. They had the same eye and hair colour only he was far bulkier than his sons were. _Why was Mori-sama still here?_ I didn't remember any parents being invited for a conference or any such thing and he was a full-fledged hunter. I thought his being here was finished with what he did to that poor boy, but it seemed I was wrong.

"What happened really son?" He asked again.

"I don't know, father. A girl fainted in a tumult."

"Yes she fainted after touching her." Another girl said and pointed towards Marie. "Midori just touched her."

"You mean Midori hit her." Another Day Class boy pointed out.

"Nah, that was Kiri," another boy snorted.

"Whatever, this shouldn't have happened." She objected.

"So, Midori-san just touched this Marie?" He replied, staring towards Marie, who looked very frightened at the moment. Her eyes looked eerily empty while she stared into nothingness.

"She's a freak, just as I thought," Takeshi replied.

"A freak?"

"Yes, father, she's a freak, a bloody mutant."

"She's is what?" The whole remaining Day Class asked, enraged.

"Sure, Midori-san got only hurt because this, so called Marie is a freak and Midori-san touched her.

Marie was trembling violently at this. I remembered she said that not all mutations were pleasant; so this was hers then? But she'd said she took the cure and so this should not be possible, should it? Whatever, we had to do something about this. I won't stand beside and do nothing.

I nodded towards Zero and we moved together between Marie and Day Class and Mori-sama.

"What are you doing, prefects? You're defending her?" The girl who had kneeled beside the fallen girl, cried after seeing what we had done. "You're supposed to defend us, not … that … that thing!"

The younger boy next to her then whispered something to her causing her to jerk. She gave me another accusing glare. "So, it's your defending her, and and …" She trailed of and her gaze travelled to where Night Class had been previously. "Oh, I think I got it you're defending them!"

"Wha…" I began but was suddenly shaken with shock. _Did they know?_

"That's not true --" Zero objected and I shook my head to give it even more weight. We certainly didn't defend Night Class of all people. It was clear in my mind that the night class students could defend themselves better than well and it were these crazy fan-girls from Day Class, who needed to be saved from the vampires. "Only, they don't know this," I thought and shrugged, annoyed by their behaviour. "Or do they, now?"

"Oh, but it is, dear Yuki Kurosu, isn't it?" Mori-sama glared at me. Of course, he knew what Night Class really was and he didn't like it, obviously. His gaze went to Zero. "And you're even worse, Zero Kiryu, aren't you?" Something dark flickered in Zero's gaze, but other than this, his face's expression stayed unimpressed and cold like ice. "Did he knew about Zero's secret?" I wondered.

"We cannot let this unpunished, don't you think?" He said to his sons and to my horror I heard most of the Day Class students agreeing. "_Oh, darn_," I thought and looked to Zero, knowing we had to interfere. We were only two and this man was a trained hunter and not just a crazed fan-girl. I pulled out my Artemis rod but Zero just shrugged; he had nothing but himself to fight with since his gun worked only against vampires -- and I think Zero was more than a little hesitant about hurting another human.

So he did what he did best, he gave them one of his iciest glares and growled at them. It seemed to work at first for they moved away from us but than did Mori-sama something with his hands, a gesture of sorts and it made Zero double over in pain.

"Zero? You all right?" I asked and reached out to touch him at his shoulder, supporting him to keep him from falling down. He gave me an unsure gaze and shook his head. No, I guess he did know as much as I did.

"I don't know Yuki," he whispered weakly. "I don't know what just happened."

I gave him another worried gaze but we had no time to ponder about this because the day class students, including Mori-sama and his sons were approaching again.

I saw Zero returning to giving them his usual glare -- only it didn't work this time and Zero, I think he must be really confused at this and so was I. It had worked every time until know, his glare I mean. So, why wasn't it now?

I think Mori-sama must have seen our confused looks because he made a sign and they stopped their approach and his face lighted up with a smirk. He turned his gaze to Zero again and his smirk grew even more.

"You've been trusting in that little power of yours too much, haven't you…" He paused for a moment as if giving us time to wonder what he meant, which we did.

"What?" Zero replied, looking utterly confused.

"Oh, you know well enough … Vampire." Mori-sama spat out.

_What? What had he just said? Didn't he care at all for father's peace? _I stared at him, dazed and confused about his actions and I think everybody else felt like me, confused, because nobody moved at all.

There was silence, a dreadful shocked silence -- but it turned into a crescendo of outrage, faster than Zero and I could react.

Screaming and crying, they approached us, they would have circled us in no time.

"Zero, keep an eye on Marie!" I shouted but was pushed to the other side of the way, near the bushes, although I managed to keep them at bay using my Artemis rod.

"That's enough!" I heard him grumble in response before he pushed them away.

So we both managed to keep them away, but sadly they had managed to divide us, too.

"Where is Marie?" I looked for her and finally found her behind Zero with the others approaching steadily. Zero must have pulled her by her uniform to keep her away from Day Class and most important this Mori-sama.

I could see how he stood before her, guarding her and looking every bit as dangerous as any vampire I've ever seen.

"Stay away from her," Zero glared at them and suddenly he wasn't alone anymore, I noticed. No, there was Kaname Kuran beside him and behind them both the whole Night Class, backing them up. Where had they all come from? I clearly remembered Night Class leaving for class after the incident happened. Just a moment before, Zero had been alone there.

"Yuki, get behind us," Kaname ordered me to do and Zero nodded to me too, as if giving Kaname's words even more weight.

I followed suite quickly, but I had a bit trouble getting back on my legs since I've fallen down during their attack before. So, I stood now behind Zero and Kaname the rest of Night Class formed a circle around Marie and me. I grumbled in return. I wasn't some weak maiden to be kept safe but no avail; neither Zero nor Kaname made any movements to let me standing beside them. I finally sighed, accepting it though. Really, I didn't wanted to be overrun by them but --

Kaname-senpai then nodded in approval but suddenly frowned. "But don't touch her, Yuki," he warned me.

Oh, yes Marie, I remembered and took another look at her. She was hugging her self tightly and stared into nothingness. Shock, I thought, it must be shock. I wanted to comfort her, but how to do this without touching her? I looked as I heard steps; they were approaching us.

This whole situation was weird, creepy and the air seemed to be icy at sudden but this man, Takeshi and Katashi's father, Mori-sama, kept his gaze locked on Zero. I didn't think he would give in but then something happened, only I didn't know what exactly. All I knew was that there was a sudden exchange of glances between Kaname and Zero and something changed, something, which made the day class students retreat and leave, even Takeshi and Katashi were leaving.

I saw how they were all shaking their heads, as if waking from a drug-induced daze.

All but Mori-sama, as the hunter he was, he did not leave; no, instead he gave us another testing look as if trying to find out what we're made of. Then after seeing that none of us was giving in, he grunted, turned away and left us alone, finally.

I glanced back to Zero and Kaname who had both turned around. I couldn't help it but I my gaze kept wandering form Kaname to Zero and back, and over again. I noticed that Zero wasn't glaring or frowning anymore; he had a slight smile on his lips -- and he looked gorgeous that way but so did Kaname. I felt my blood rushing to my head but I couldn't stop looking at them. They looked astonishing good together, too.

I think I blushed furiously because Aido started giggling suddenly and a short while after this we were all laughing, but Zero and Kaname, who looked rather surprised, I think. Maybe we all needed some relief from what just happened.

My gaze fell on Marie and I stopped laughing as suddenly as I had started it. She wasn't laughing, no; I think she was crying quietly to herself.

"Ichijo-senpai?" I asked, realizing that he too was back here.

"She's alive, Yuki." He reassured me.

"Thank you, Ichijo-senpai." I smiled in relief, at least something positive.

"Marie?" I asked quietly. "Can you walk?"

I got no answer at first but then she nodded and got up with my help.

"Zero?"

"Yeah?"

"Shouldn't we bring Marie to someplace else for the rest of the night?"

"Yes," he agreed, looking where Day Class had vanished to, " I think you're right."

Zero nodded to Kaname and Kaname replied with a similar nod. "We could take her for the time being." He offered.

I stared at him. "But she's human." I objected, knowing not what to think about this sudden offer.

"Yes, she is and she'll be safe." He reassured. "Nobody would dare to touch her." He smirked a little. "It's a hard thing to do so, won't you agree?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. I forgot." I agreed, remembering what happened to the girl, who touched her.

I guess nobody really cared about class tonight. I gave Zero a tired sigh and we guided Marie to Moon Dorm, Kaname-senpai and the whole Night Class following foot.

We did some patrolling afterwards just to make sure everything stayed quite but nothing happened this night. Only I had feeling that this was only a quiet before the storm. No, I thought, this wasn't over, yet. No, it felt more like a beginning of even worse things to come.

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_Thank you for reading._

Reviews welcome as ever, course I like to hear your thoughts.

Miarath


	6. After Effects

Change of Heart - Chapter Six

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

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**After Effects**

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Last night had left me bone tired but still -- sleep didn't come easily to me that night because every time I closed my eyes I saw her falling down again, heard the other day class students' frantic screams and worst of all, I saw Mori-sama approaching us again and again.

So, I had been tossing and turning around for a long while until I finally found sleep, but then I started dreaming again. It was kind of weird, no, that dream was not about yesterday and there was thankfully no Mori-sama in it, but in my dream I found myself in an empty house, wandering through its hallways. That place looked almost like a normal house, with furniture, stuff and all but without people and there were masses of cobwebs hanging from the ceiling.

I think I must've shivered even in my sleep because the dream felt so cold, so empty. "Where had all the people gone? Why have they left this place?" I thought but I couldn't wake from the dream. Suddenly, I thought I heard something -- something, which sounded almost … like _vampire?_

The voice was just beyond my conscious hearing that I couldn't really understand what it was saying, but I could hear the pain and sadness in it. _Was it mourning these people here?_

I felt tears gathering in my eyes, all because of this feeling of utter sadness. My heart then skipped a beat, because the sadness had suddenly turned into rage, keening unspeakable things of madness into the emptiness of the house.

Then it was gone and I was woken up by someone's worried voice, Yori, I noticed dimly.

"_Is it already morning?"_ I thought feeling both unhappy and glad that I've been woken up from my unsettling dream.

"Yuki?" she asked but I was yet so tired that I turned around, trying to find some sleep. Well, I faked it because for some reason I couldn't make me going back to sleep. Maybe it was that weird dream that I hadn't really wanted to return to sleep but neither was I ready to get up yet.

"Are you all right?" She asked again but I kept lying still, thinking she would ignore me after a few minutes if she believed I was still asleep. It should have worked if she hadn't come down to me, touching my shoulder.

I turned around, looking over to her bed, but noticed her sitting on my bed instead, watching me with a strange expression in her eyes. She was really worried about something, about me?

"I don't know." I replied with a yawn and rubbed my eyes. It was still very early and last night had been long. "Thank you for waking me." I said slowly.

"Those were nightmares, which had you tossing like that, weren't they?" She frowned and sighed. "Last night, what happened last night, Yuki?"

I stared at her, confused then nodded, remembering that she had not been there -- thankfully. I think I really was glad she didn't have to witness that disaster, which had been yesterday's class change.

"Right, you weren't there." I said but then did a double take at her, because I found it suddenly very odd that she hadn't been there. "Why were you not there yesterday, Yori? You're normally always there, standing by that old three, aren't you?"

"I was busy with my home work, Yuki. There's math test next Monday, don't you remember?" For a moment she really sounded annoyed then gave me another probing look and sighed.

"I'm sorry, I forgot."

"It's okay. It can't be easy for you after all, now, can it?" She said softly.

"I guess it's not … but it has to be done." I agreed scratching my chin. "You want to talk about yesterday's class change, don't you?"

"Hmm, yes, I guess I'm a bit curious." She moved closer to me, leaning on the wall for support. "It's cause I saw them coming back in such a dim mood, Yuki. You should've seen them. They were walking like robots, all mechanical and none of them said a single word."

"I've seen them." I replied hoarsely and shivered because thinking of what happened made me recall that dreadful feeling I felt, when that hunter, that Mori-sama had left us finally alone; a feeling of foreboding dread. No, last night had not been funny at all.

"So, what happened?"

"A girl fainted, there had been an accident during class change, Yori." I explained, squirming under her curious gaze. Darn, I really couldn't tell her everything cause Yori didn't know either about Marie's secret or what Night Class really was.

"An accident?"

"Yes, an accident." I repeated seriously.

"Has this anything to do with Marie-san?" She asked next and I could just stare -- did Yori know?

"Um, … not exactly."

"Yuki, you can tell me the truth." Yori swallowed and nodded. "Marie is a mutant, isn't she?"

"No, em, yes, I guess." I answered, feeling stunned that Yori knew about this. "You … know?"

She nodded. "I guess … I started wondering about her when those two brats arrived here, Takeshi and Katashi, you know. They started babbling about mutants and how we normal humans had to be protected from them." She snorted in disgust. "And then they started making jokes about her … I think it was the expression in her eyes which made me wonder if maybe they were right about her … being a mutant I mean."

I sighed in defeat. "Yes, you're right it has to do with her mutant abilities. Only, Marie took the cure … and I think her abilities have returned somehow." I tried to explain as best I could because I didn't quite know what exactly happened last night myself.

Yori nodded thoughtfully.

"Um, Yori?"

"Yes?"

"You don't have to bother with hurrying today, cause there won't be any class. Father has ordered a special break for the next few days after he heard what happened." I explained thinking back to the moment when we, Zero, Kaname and I reported yesterday's events to father. I had felt so terrible for him then, for he had looked suddenly so old, so fragile. Father couldn't be old, no, he couldn't be.

"It's that bad?" She whispered.

"Yeah, that bad." I replied in an equally low voice because I felt then that speaking it out too loud would make it worse. It was superstitious, I know, but that's how I felt then.

For a long while none of us spoke, resulting in a silence, which was only broken by the ticking of the wall-clock. I shivered because it reminded me of my dream, this silence. "Silly," I told myself and turned my gaze back to Yori.

Only, Yori wasn't looking at me any longer. No, instead she kept staring at the wall now, wearing a very pensive expression on her face, and then it turned into a soft smile.

_What was going on?_

Feeling curious about this and trying to put of my growing feeling of weirdness, I tugged at her nightgown, pulling her attention back to me.

"Yori, what are you thinking about?"

"Um," she replied and looked away, "Yuki, don't you think Zero's behaving a bit unusual lately?"

"What?" I gasped completely surprised by this sudden change of topic. "You must be wrong; Zero is behaving like always …" I objected but then trailed off because in a way she was right. True, most of the time he was just his bad tempered self, simply Zero being Zero but -- there were things, little things, which made me wonder right now if Yori might be right and there was something off with him.

"Maybe," Yori replied, "but that scene with him and Kaname-senpai a few days ago certainly wasn't normal, was it?"

"It was a bit extreme but Yori, Zero and Kaname have never been getting along well."

"If you say so." Yori replied slowly and went up to dress for the day. "You should get up too. It's a too nice day to stay in bed all day, Yuki." She grinned at me.

"Guess you're right, Yori." So, I went up and prepared myself for the day but I felt kind of unsure of what I could expect from this day. Looking at my calendar, I noted that I had breakfast with father today.

I went to the door but stopped for a moment, noticing that I had in fact donned my school uniform. I sighed; well, I would be too late for breakfast if I'd go to change that now.

So, I went out to meet father for breakfast, walking through empty halls and shivered again, because it reminded me of that dream. It was so quiet that I could hear my own breath, just like in my dream.

And -- these hallways felt almost as empty as the ones from my dream. I shrugged, that was just nonsense. It was logically, them being empty today but normally they were filled with other students waiting for class to start.

Well, the silence had an end now, because I've arrived at father's rooms.

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xox

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Breakfast was fine but it was only father and I today, for I think Zero took the chance to sleep in for once. It must be really hard for him to be pulled into two directions, two natures, day and night, belonging to neither of them completely. So, I guess I could kind of understand him, sleeping in.

"So, he's off, riding again?" Father said casually.

"I guess."

"Hmm, he seems to love his Lily a lot lately." Father chuckled softly.

"What?" I almost choked on my tea then. "Lily, oh…" I muttered.

"Well, he spends all his free time with her, doesn't he?" Father added with a raised eyebrow. "Looks like he's in love with her." Father giggled then -- like a schoolgirl.

"I guess." I replied while trying not to drop my tea between fits of laughter. Yeah, right, Zero in love with White Lily. Made me thinking of Lily being dressed up with white roses in her mane and Zero in a black tux. What a silly picture, but none the less: it was a good-looking silly picture.

"How is she?" I asked father after finishing my breakfast. "Midori, the day class girl, I mean."

"Not good, Yuki. The doctors say she's still in a critical state and they're contemplating moving her to a real hospital."

"She won't die?"

"I don't know but I think we can be happy that we have such a good medical equipment here," he said with a deep sigh, " and before you ask Yuki, no you can't visit her yet. She's in intensive care right now and nobody is allowed in."

He shrugged and stood up. "If you excuse me now, I've got to prepare the parents meeting tomorrow."

I nodded and stared out of the window, which gave way to a foggy but yet beautiful morning; it was really fitting my mood because my thoughts were just as foggy at the moment.

I think I've been too absentminded with all my thoughts that I didn't hear the door opening nor did I heard steps behind me, which meant I was really surprised when I heard a familiar voice from behind.

"Yuki?" He repeated.

I turned around and stared. Yes, that was Zero but he was dressed casually, which happened rarely enough. He looked good that way, wearing only a white shirt and his uniform trousers but no tie at all.

"Zero, you're already up? I thought you'd be still in bed … I think…" I babbled confused seeing him so early on a school-free day.

"Yeah, I am," he replied dryly. "Couldn't sleep." He then yawned and went to the kitchen to help himself to a cup of tea, which had been left from breakfast. He took some toast too and stared at it for a moment. "You don't think there's some strawberry jamleft, is there?"

"Look in the freezer. I think there should be some left." I said in return and watched him eat, ah, I know but he looked kind of cute then, you know; with all the red jam vanishing between his lips. "Red suits him," I mused.

"What?" He mouthed as he caught me staring -- only it made it worse and I chuckled.

"You've got some jam on your chin." I said and wiped it away with a finger and then in the spur of the moment, went ahead and tasted it while I kept watching for his reaction.

"I do?" He muttered.

"Yes … sweet." I added and giggled some more, feeling kind of light hearted. Really, the jam tasted as sweet as the image in front of me looked to me -- delightful.

"Let me see…" He whispered back and took hold of my hand, the same one I'd used to lick the jam from just a moment ago. "Sweet?" He sniffed at it. "Yes … I think you're right." He leaned forward, licking the remaining jam from it.

"Z-Zero…" I shivered but I couldn't move either in this awkward silence between us.

"Sweet," he said slowly giving me a wry smirk before he finally released my hand.

"Y-yes?"

"Yeah, guess so." He shrugged.

"Jerk." I muttered under my breath; first he's making such a fuss and then dismissed it just like that.

"What?" He asked and raised a brow.

"I said jerk."

"Why?"

"Because."

"That's silly." He snorted.

"It's not." I objected and turned around, folding my arms and pretending to ignore him.

"You know this is even more silly." He said with a low chuckle.

"What!?" I nearly shouted and swirled around. No, that couldn't be.

"Did you just laugh?"

"What, me? No way." He said deadpanned.

"Liar!"

I guess this could've continued for a long time but we were interrupted by laughter.

"You know I wonder sometimes if you'll ever grow up, especially at times like now, when you're behaving like five-year-olds." Father said between fits of giggles, which made him almost drop the paper in his hand.

"Father!" I cried then stopped suddenly, looking at Zero, who just shrugged and tried to look innocent. Oh, I guess father was right. We did behave like little children -- sometimes.

So, that was how that morning ended. Midday was rather boring because there was no class and only father for company for most of the time. Actually, it was that boring that Yori convinced me to study with her.

Zero had left once again for the stables or something. He'd muttered something I could not quite make out. I guess he meant saying that he has something to do, whatever that was.

Probably helping out at the stables again, since he spent so much time with Lily.

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xox

* * *

-

In the evening I stood in front of Moon Dorm's gate once again. It was eerily quiet again; the doors were closed with no fan-girls waiting in front of it -- and I was alone.

Zero had said he had something to do and he would join me later in our patrol. Well, that wasn't going to be a problem because there wasn't going to be a class change today and we would've some more time until we really needed to go on patrol.

I looked for some long minutes at the massive doors in front of me because for some reason I felt shy about entering and thus interrupting this stillness.

Sighing, I finally decided to open one of the doors and entered Moon Dorm. The doors sounded rather loud and I guess I expected somebody to hear it, too, but I was only greeted by silence. I looked around to see the lobby being deserted -- there was nobody there.

Where were they all?

"Hello?" I tried timidly. I said it into an empty room and shivered. There, I could almost hear my own voice's echo.

I waited some minutes longer -- until I heard steps coming from above. I turned around to see Ichijo-senpai coming down the stairs. He looked like always, cheerful, which was quite a contrast to the eerie silence around me for it felt rather depressing.

"Oh, Yuki-chan, you're finally deciding to give us a visit." He said and sat down on his usual place on the couch, patting on the place next to him and motioning for me to sit down beside him.

"I guess I did." I replied not quite sure of what to say. "I thought to give Marie-san a visit." I explained and sat down next to him.

"I see."

"How's everybody?"

"Well, we are fine but Marie-san, I'm not so sure about."

"I know." I replied remembering the haunted look on her face yesterday.

"Just go, I think she'll be needing a friend." He motioned towards the stairs for me to go up.

I hesitated for a moment, but he just nodded and I finally went up to do as he said.

When I was on the stairs I think I could hear him murmuring that he had something to take care of but I ignored it, thinking it had nothing to do with me. I went to her room, the guest room; we had brought her to sleep in yesterday night.

So, I had been almost there and was about to open the door when I heard voices, hers and the other sounded … like _Aido-senpai. _I stopped, frozen in place.

"Do they taste salty?" Aido's voice said in such a husky tone that I could almost imagine him leaning forward as if trying to taste her … tears? He wouldn't dare after what happened yesterday, would he?

"Don't." Marie objected chokingly.

"_What was he doing here?" _I thought and opened the door slowly and as quietly as I could knowing that Aido would hear it probably anyway -- but I was lucky he was distracted enough to not react to it. So, why did I feel kind of guilty then? I shivered, knowing that listening to something private wasn't right but I couldn't move for some reason.

"Marie …" I heard Aido swallow and then I heard some strange noise. "Here," he said, "you're too beautiful to be sad."

"No, please… not that." I could see Marie staring at Aido with wide eyes and after coming a bit closer I could see that there was a rose in his hand, a rose made of ice.

Marie continued staring at Aido and then gasped. "Are you … like me? A mutant?"

Aido shook his head and smiled a rather shy smile. "No, I don't think so."

"Then … you're … a vampire, aren't you?"

Aido just nodded and let her see a flash of his fangs.

"And you can do those?" She pointed at the rose in his hand.

Again, she was greeted by another nod. "Yep, this I can do -- and more. I love ice."

She broke into a fit of hysterical giggles then.

"What is so funny?" His voice sounded confused now.

"Um, you know … Aido-senpai, you're the second g-guy, who did t-this for me." She pointed to the rose in his hand. She stopped and frowned. "Can you make it stay this way?"

"No, not for long." He shook his head and nodded then. "Only, if I stay around to make it so."

I then choose that moment to make myself noticeable by knocking on the door. "Marie?"

Both of them jerked around staring at me for a moment or two.

"Yuki?" Marie gasped.

"How are you?" I asked softly.

"Peachy, I think … but I-I don't think … I'm Marie anymore…" She stammered in response. "I'm back to being Rogue, Yuki. P-Please don't call me Marie anymore." Her voice was hoarse from earlier crying.

"Rogue," I repeated slowly tasting the unfamiliar name on my tongue.

"Yes, I t-think t-that's what I am now." She said but to me it sounded too much like that's all she was now, which I couldn't and wouldn't believe.

"Okay." I nodded not wanting to upset her further. "It's okay … M-Rogue."

"Did you know he could do this?" She asked then, pointing towards the rose in Aido's hand.

I simply nodded.

"You know I'm still here." He interrupted us dryly.

"Um, sorry Aido-senpai." I replied.

"Yes, me sorry too."

"Hey, girls, it's all right." He was at it again, smiling his Idol-senpai smile, which in return made Rogue giggle a little -- just a bit but it was a start.

"So, you're better now?" He said, having seen her laughing.

"I guess so."

"Good." He smiled softly. "Then it's not been all in vain." He paused, looking at the rose in his hand and held it in front her. "Here… I know it's probably going to melt … but it's for you."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied but looked on his watch and sighed. "I guess I've got to leave you two to yourselves … for I've got something important to do."

"It's all right, we'll survive," I said and gave Rogue a brief look. "Won't we?"

She nodded only.

So, with that Aido-senpai had left us finally alone.

"What do you think, you're ready to move back to your own room?"

"Yeah, I guess I can't hide here forever, can I?" She said with a sad smile.

"Nope, no, you can't."

"You know, a part of me wants to -- hide and feel sorry for myself."

"I'd like to say I understood you, but I really can't. I've never been in your place." I murmured.

"It's okay, Yuki," she said slowly with a thoughtful expression. "Very little people are."

She then went resolutely to the door, leaving this room behind and I could only follow her.

We had almost reached the stairs when I heard voices, familiar voices. "Ichijo," I thought; that was definitely he and he sounded agitated. His voice had held an undertone of warning, I thought but he was too quiet for me to understand what he'd said. I shook my head. This made no sense. Who should he feel the need to warn for or against?

"Yuki?" Rogue asked because I had stopped suddenly, staring at the wall on the other side.

"Yes?" I turned around to her.

"What is Zero doing here? Your patrol hasn't started yet, has it?"

"Zero!?" I gasped. "No, you must have heard someone else. He's off riding again, I think."

Rogue shook her head. "No, that's definitely him." She disagreed, pointing to the other side.

"What?" I jerked around because, now I heard something, too … something that sounded like Zero? "Could she be right after all?" I wondered shaking my head.

I ignored Rogue behind me and I started to walk slowly into the other direction. I felt a strong feeling of disconnection as I went slowly down the hallway, just where I had heard Ichijo before.

"Kaname-senpai … Z-Zero?" I stuttered feeling totally confused to see him here, and together with Kaname to boot.

"What are you doing here?" I managed to get out finally in a steady voice but I couldn't hide my surprise and the fact that I was very confused of seeing him here, alone with Kaname.

"Yuki," Zero began but trailed off and looked down, like he didn't know what to say. I couldn't help but continued staring at him, at them.

"He's here because we needed to discuss what happened yesterday and of course, the matter of this unknown pureblood." Kaname said, seeing Zero' difficulty with answering my question and put a hand on Zero's shoulder steadying him.

Now, it was my turn to stare at Kaname-senpai, who looked as kind as always but he was dressed a bit more casual. No, he was the same as always, the same warm and kind smile.

"Yeah, that is right." Zero added, finally being able to speak. "It's about Day Class, Yuki. They heard what Mori-sama said … and that can't remain that way."

Kaname nodded. "No, they can't remember."

"Oh, of course, his accusing Zero of being a vampire." I agreed feeling better now that I had a logical reason for him being here. Some reason, I could comprehend.

"Yes, we can't allow them to remember, to remember that vampires are real." Kaname stated.

"And so…"

"We discussed about an easy way to delete that part from their memory. Kuran said he could do it but he needs them all in one place." Zero was finally back to his old self.

"Father has arranged for a parents meeting tomorrow, which means that all of the day class students in question are going to be in the big hall."

Kaname nodded. "That would be sufficient."

So, it was planned, Kaname would attend the meeting as president of Night Class in the big hall, influencing the day class students minds to make them forget about vampires and thus keeping Night Class secret safe.

"Um, Yuki?"

I turned around, noticing Rogue staring at us, and froze. "Um, I'm sorry for leaving you there like that."

"It's okay that I … heard that?"

I nodded slowly. "I guess. You can keep a secret, don't you?"

"Yeah, I definitely can do that." She grinned wryly. "I guess I'm quite good at that."

"That's good." Zero nodded carefully avoiding looking at Kaname, who still stood next to him.

"I'll hold you to it." Kaname added seriously, his voice being soft but I could feel that he would go for lengths to keep their secret and Cross Academy safe.

"You can trust me, Kaname-senpai." Rogue bowed slightly in response to the unspoken threat in Kaname's voice.

"I'll hope so." He replied and left us alone.

I turned around to take another look at Zero and sighed. "Zero, can you take the first patrol for me?"

He nodded. "All right, go and take Marie-san home."

So, it was done, Zero would took my patrol now so that I could bring Rogue back to her own room.

"I guess it's a good thing I don't have a room-mate," she said suddenly.

"Yes, it seems so." I muttered. "But I don't think there be further trouble Rogue."

"Because of Kaname-senpai?"

"Um, that too, but I meant that my father, our headmaster won't allow such uproar here."

"He's only one man, Yuki," Rogue replied. "He can't control everything …can he?"

"Um, no, but I guess he'd try anyway." I said with sly smile, knowing father, he would do exactly that.

When we were finally back to her room she stopped suddenly and gave me a questioning look.

"Do you have any gloves?" She asked then. "The girls from Night Class didn't have any, which fit me."

"Gloves?" I asked puzzled for a moment. "Oh, I understand …but I don't think I've anything in your size." I scratched my chin, thinking. "But I think Yori might have some, which would fit."

"Can you ask her … please?"

"Of course."

I know I wasn't Rogue's size and I didn't own too many gloves and the few I had wouldn't work in her case. They were made of thin silk or gaze, made for going along with ballroom dresses but Marie, eh, Rogue might try one out of Yori's collection.

Thankfully we found out that Yori had the same size in gloves as Rogue and so we found some fitting gloves for her.

-

* * *

xox

* * *

-

Next day I went to school infirmary as we had still no classes and it was my duty to check on the girl, who had fainted, but it wasn't just duty, I really wanted to visit her. Father had said that she was better now and I could finally go visiting her.

"How is she?" I asked the nurse on duty.

"Well, she's alive," she replied and sighed sadly, " and stable, but I'm afraid little Midori has fallen into coma, Yuki-san."

"Coma?" I asked feeling worried and puzzled at once because I didn't know what really happened last night. Okay, I knew that people sometimes fell into coma but like this, for just touching another girl?

"Yes, and we should be glad about it, Yuki-san. We almost lost her last night." She said with a grave voice and shook her head in confusion. "I don't understand this, I really don't. There's no prior indication for her to become comatose, none at all. For all I know this shouldn't have happened at all, Yuki-san." The nurse gave me an intense look as if she suspected that I knew more, which I did but I couldn't say anything. So, I shook my head in return.

"Then I can't do anything here, right?"

"No, I'm afraid you can't."

I nodded and left in a hurry for the great hall, because we were all to attend this meeting -- and I was already late.

So, yes, I was glad that the day class girl did not die from this -- but she was in a coma, so it was still not very good and her parents were of course frantic over what had happened. Midori-san, I remembered briefly, was one of the younger students here, younger than I, Zero or even Yori and attended Cross Academy only since last year.

My father had ordered for all students to stay at their dorms but today was different because everyone would be in the great hall. Students from Day and Night Class, separated of course but still all in the same hall, which meant that Zero and I were needed to make sure everyone was behaving.

When I slipped into the hall I saw father already behind his podium, reading some of his notes. I think he must have spoken to the crowd in front of him because he was waiting for them to respond and yes they responded, only they did it all at once.

It was not long after this, things became loud and difficult to keep up with understanding what they were discussing because they seemed to talk all at the same time. I know father did his best to calm them down but it had little effect on them.

Now, I was standing in the back of our big school hall, and tried to get a better overview from back here. I leant to the wall for support to get a better position so I could see more. I took in all the loud talking people seated before me. Some were standing even, so enraged they were and they were talking all at once so I could not really get what this really was about. Zero and I had to come here because it was our duty to be here during discussion because we were prefects.

"What's this really about Zero?" I whispered as quiet as could, taking advantage of his excellent hearing so others wouldn't hear me. "It's about that class change, isn't it?"

"Yes, the parents of from the day class students, they're frantic with what happed that day." He explained in same way, as he was listening to this longer than I.

"About Marie, um, Rogue?" I'd really have to remember this, but it was hard to call her something else after all that time.

Zero nodded and frowned. "It was an accident … but they are not listening."

"They're frightened," I agreed.

"I know."

Then I heard a familiar voice speaking to the crowd, Mori-sama, I thought, it was him.

"It's our right to be worried about our children, isn't it?"

They responded loudly, obviously agreeing to what he said.

"You agree with me, yes? I haven't expected anything else. So, that means we should and we have the duty to do anything to keep our children safe."

The crowd applauded loudly.

"Excuse me, but I have to disagree. We don't need more rules. We're doing our best to keep our students safe." Yagari-sensei said in a sarcastically voice, taunting Mori-same.

"You do? Then tell me why did this happen?"

"That my dear Mori-san was an accident, nothing more. A bad one, yes, I agree but it was accident and nobody is responsible for such things." He swallowed.

"Accident." Mori-sama snorted in disgust, clearly disbelieving what he heard.

"My dear friends," Father interrupted with peaceful gesture. "This is going nowhere. It's not helping the poor girl nor does it make it undone."

"You're right headmaster, of course." Mori-sama complied unexpectedly at this and I was really surprised about that for he hadn't sounded like he would stop his 'preach' in the near future.

I turned my attention back to Zero just in time to see him gazing over there, to where Night Class was seated. I noticed that Night Class were the only ones, who kept quiet. They were not ranting loudly but they seemed to be listening intensely.

Then I spotted Kaname-senpai. He stood by the wall and wore an intense expression on his face -- was he doing, what we had talked about yesterday?

"Zero?" I whispered.

"Yeah."

"Kaname-senpai, he's doing it, isn't he?"

"I guess so." Zero snorted and looked away, towards the other side where most of the parents were seated. I followed his look, noticing some unknown men standing there.

"Who are those?" I nodded towards those serious looking men on the right side; they were standing like us and like us they were watching the whole thing, too. Many of them were frowning but some were just looking interested. I noticed Mori-sama among them now. Next to him stood two younger looking men, who both bore strange markings on their faces, which looked a lot like scars from claws. "Did vampires that to them?" I wondered briefly. They wore all the same dark leathery clothing, just like Mori-sama did.

"They?" Zero replied. "They're all hunters from the Association."

"What do you think they are here for?"

Zero shrugged but I felt he suspected something. "Zero, what's going on?"

"I don't know anymore than you do, Yuki." Her turned around and faced me directly. He was closer too; our heads were just a few inches away, almost touching. He motioned for me to stay like this.

"I think they are here because of Night Class." He said in an even quieter voice than before, so quiet that I had to concentrate hard to understand what he said.

"And you?" I tried to be as quiet him, remembering that hunters, like vampires, probably had heightened hearing too.

"Maybe," He replied, "and now probably because of her, too."

"But-but Rogue isn't --"

"She isn't a vampire, I know," he replied and swallowed deeply, " but I don't think it makes a difference to them, Yuki."

"Father had a visitor some night ago. It was someone from your Hunter Association, I think."

"He had? Did you hear any names, Yuki?"

I frowned trying to remember then nodded slowly. "I think I heard father call him Numei-san."

Zero swallowed deeply at this. "That … it's the council's president." Zero scratched his head swallowed again. "Could you understand what he had said to him?"

"Zero, he said something about hunters being sick of vampires … I think he said that many of them want to destroy them completely."

"But the Hunter's Association isn't strong enough to do so … at least that's what master Yagari said to me."

"Maybe something has changed, Zero."

"Yes, maybe." He said and gazed towards the crowd before us. I followed his gaze and noticed that Night Class had left but the people in front of us were still very upset and loud.

"Mutants." We both said at once, because that's what we could make out from what they're talking about.

"Come," he said to me, "we can't do here anything anyway."

I nodded, knowing that Night Class had gone and there wasn't any point for us to stay.

So, we went for the door. After a moment hesitating I followed him outside and noticed that he was leading us out of the building but for a short stop at the kitchen. What had he on his mind?

"Zero, where are we going?"

"Out, I thought we should get some fresh air." He replied in an almost playful way -- at least for Zero.

It made me smile in return. Yes, he was right, fresh air seemed to be really nice at the moment with all this tension here in the building.

We were almost outside when we saw suddenly Takeshi and Katashi in front of us, standing in our way to the door.

"Traitor," Takeshi spat while glaring at Zero.

"What!?" Zero scowled in return.

"Yeah, you heard me right traitor!" He repeated, this time with more fervour. "How could you? You're siding with them … but then that's what you are, aren't you?" His voice turned into a nasty whisper.

I could see it working in Zero's mind, the way he was knitting his brows and his eyes narrowed -- no he didn't like this at all.

"No." He simply said, cold and smooth.

"What have you said traitor?"

"No, I said no, I don't side with them." He snorted and shrugged. "But I guess you don't want to … listen."

"I don't believe you." Takeshi spat.

"Doesn't matter." Zero muttered and tilted his head, giving the boys in front of him a trying look and nodded slightly in satisfaction after seeing them retreating from his glare.

"Come Yuki, we've got to go." He took my hand and pulled me along with him in a swift move ignoring the two brats next to us. I guess they tried to stop him but they were too slow.

Outside, he let go of my hand and we turned to a more casual pace.

It turned out that Zero had planned to go for our place by the lake, by the old oak tree. It was one of our favourite places because it was a bit too far away for most day class students to be comfortable with and it was quiet.

"Here sit down," he said and pulled out what looked like a blanket.

Zero was planning a pick-nick? I felt suddenly very warm and flustered. Yes, this really looked like a pick-nick for I could out make some pre-made bread and tea. Had that been all in that packet I had seen him carrying out of the kitchen? It must have been.

"You okay?" He asked suddenly after we had sat down for while eating and drinking, what Zero had brought from the kitchen.

I nodded but then I couldn't help but study him closely, watching Zero eating in silence. I wasn't blind; I had noticed some change in him during the last few days. His mood, it seemed to be an endless up and down that I felt highly confused about. I mean maybe a week ago he was his stoic silent self but now there seemed to times when I caught smiles among his glares, times when I could see an almost light-hearted and amused glint in his eyes.

More so, I wondered what was that about Zero and Kaname. You know I thought he hated Kaname, and Kaname him, but for two guys hating each other they spent a rather lot time together. True, they spent it glaring but -- and I caught Zero smiling much more often; No, not that I didn't like that but it made me wonder about the reason and this silence made my thoughts spinning even more.

Right now he had stopped eating and was staring out to the lake.

"Yuki?" he muttered.

"Hmm," I muttered back.

"Do you think it's possible to love more than one person?" His voice was so faint that I barely understood it.

"What?" I jerked around surprised by that question.

"Do you think it's possible?"

"Um, I-I don't know." I swallowed. I suddenly saw pictures of him and Kaname-senpai in my mind, dancing a mad dance. Lately, I felt tugged in both directions. I know I loved Kaname-senpai but what was it, I felt about Zero? I couldn't imagine losing either of them. Just thinking of losing either of them made me feel ill.

"I really don't know." I repeated.

"But what if …" He muttered. "Would that … be okay?"

"I-I don't know … may be if …" I shook my head in defeat. I simply didn't know.

"Sorry," he replied. "I had just some strange thoughts." He shrugged.

"I …"

"Just forget about it, would you?" He pleaded finally.

"Okay." I agreed even my thoughts kept spinning. "Yuki, stop that," I thought to myself and turned my attention back to the food in front of me.

I returned to eating even I felt utterly confused. I shook my head; what was that with these days that they made me feel like this?

-

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-

_Thank you for reading!_

Hope you enjoyed this and sorry for the wait but real life got in the way of writing this.

Work doesn't leave much time for writing. ;-(

As always: reviews are highly welcome.

_Miarath_


	7. Lovely Disaster Part One

Change of Heart - Chapter Seven

For Disclaimer see Chapter One

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Sorry for the long wait but writing this took quite a time. :D

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* * *

**Lovely Disaster - Part One**

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It was business as usual, at least so it seemed from the outside; everything looked just like yesterday yet on the inside today couldn't be more different compared to yesterday.

Yes, I felt different since he spoke those words, those unfathomable words; words I never thought to hear from his lips -- words about love.

Love.

Yet, Zero had asked me about love, more specifically, if it was possible to could love more than one person. Words, which made me, think about Zero -- and Kaname -- impossible. Really, I'd been quite shocked to hear something like that from Zero, asking a question like that? Yet, he had done exactly that.

The thought of love, it made my heart beat unsteadily and my thoughts spinning around in circles because I suddenly realized something about him, about me.

"I love him." I thought; I felt filled with warmth and yet I was puzzled. I felt confused, because my feelings for the other one, for my Kaname-senpai, hadn't changed. No, not at all, I still loved him as strongly as I ever did before.

Could I really love them -- both?

Could I love two people at the same time? Was it possible?

But what if not love, what was this feeling? It had to be love, this feeling. His smile, his rare smile, it made me fell always so warm and his closeness made my heart flutter with warmth and something else -- happiness?

I know Zero was supposed to be my brother, sort of, I guess, but this feeling -- it wasn't very sisterly; no, I was sure now; so, I knew I loved Zero as much as I did Kaname-senpai, but …

So, where did this leave us three?

It could never work, could it?

I was quite certain that Kaname-senpai loved me, he said so and he saved me so many times but what about Zero? Did Zero love me, too? If not, why has he asked me that question?

"What if he doesn't love me this way?" I thought with a sudden ache in my heart for I suddenly remembered how unsure he had sounded yesterday.

No. I shook my head, remembering the expression in his eyes, those silver eyes of his. He could be so closed up most of the time but his eyes; they gave him away -- every time.

It's his eyes I saw, every time I closed my eyes I saw his gaze, watching me with some unknown emotion in his eyes. Grey eyes flickering, changing like the weather above, one moment they were stormy and cloudy the next I'd have seen such a light in them that it made me dizzy, bursting with warmth. It made my heart flutter excitedly.

"Zero, he loves me." I thought again, filling me with even more warmth now. Warmth, just like when I've seen this smile in his grey eyes, a smile I had waited so long to see. It had filled me with joy, but now, why wasn't I completely happy?

Was it because I wanted them both? Yes, maybe it was that because couldn't imagine to lose neither of them -- but that couldn't work, us three, could it?

My thoughts kept spinning on like this without any real destination. Things seemed to happen all at once, one there was Zero's strange mood yesterday and then those discussion in the evening with father, Yagari-sensei and some of those hunters I'd seen in the great hall. They had come to father to talk in private to him, to discuss matters I could only guess about.

There had been so much hate in their eyes that it made me shudder me with dread at the mere thought of it. I don't think I could ever understand how they, these people, could hate like they did. Worse, hate people or to their eyes: beings, without even knowing them at all. They were not even beings to them, they were things; they had to be things for them being this cold about it.

For them to hate vampires was something I could almost understand, something I expected them to do, as they were after all born to fight, to kill, them, but why did they hate mutants so much? What have these poor people ever done to those men? And worse, most mutants weren't even dangerous, as least that was what I heard from Marie eh Rogue and also from TV, even if that was a little difficult to filter out of all the trash, which was shown lately.

So, I had returned to father's dining room without so much as noticing everything around me, not the way the sun was high in the sky, indicating that midday wasn't far away nor did I notice a person following me in the shadows back then.

Yes, I was surprised when I heard suddenly familiar steps behind me.

"Zero?" I asked, realizing he had followed me from the kitchen. He had cooked lunch for us because father was still in conference with the other hunters, which was good thing so he couldn't even get the idea to try cooking for us. I shuddered slightly, thinking about the creations, he wanted us to try. No, I knew I wasn't really talented in the kitchen either, but Zero loved to cook for us -- and I loved Zero's cooking.

"Hmm." He mumbled in return, but his gaze was directed towards the window as if to avoid looking directly at me.

"Do you love me?" There I had said it, and it had quite an effect on him -- it caused him to jerk around, staring at me with wide eyes and then to choke. I almost laughed cause it was such a funny image but also a cute one too.

"What?" He returned finally with wide eyes. He did look really cute like that, being surprised I thought and took a step closer. I swallowed uneasily and shrugged. There was no other way to be sure after all; so I took another big step forward, closing the distance between us.

I think I must have blushed because of what I was about to do. I felt anxious but I pushed myself further, even closer to him, because if not now I was sure I wouldn't do it ever. I eyed him and noticed that he was completely unaware of my intention.

Then I leaned forward and kissed him, thus surprising him again.

Yes, I did it; it was the only way to be sure. Oh, I'll never forget his reaction. First he froze but then he responded like I never had imagined, it was my first kiss after all but his lips where as soft as I had imagined. _Oh, wow. I really did it_ -- and I couldn't stop kissing him, cause it felt so good. Zero seemed to like it too, because didn't stop me either but pulled me even closer.

"Yuki-chan?" I heard then and jerked away from Zero, just like I've been burnt -- which might I just have been. I felt feverish enough and eyed him warily. Had father seen us just now? I looked up to him, looking for a sign in his face expression, but found only concern, showing in his eyes. I sighed in relief.

"Father?" I asked slowly, still not sure how to react just now.

"You've got homework to do, don't you?" He said with a raised brow and a sly glint in his eyes. "Has he seen us after all but choose to ignore it?" I wondered.

"Um, yes, you're right." I answering, playing along if that's what he did, but he was right, I had work to do. Just because there were no classes right now didn't mean we had free time all day long. You see, our teachers gave us some long boring homework to do during the class free days -- just to keep us busy, and out of trouble.

I left for my room to do my homework there, that was when I heard something, someone from behind.

I turned around but I couldn't see anything at first.

"Shish!" There was it again and I finally saw who it was. I guess I gaped with my mouth wide open too; to say I was surprised was an understatement, really.

"Aido?" I mouthed, feeling more than surprised to see him here, in the broad daylight, no less.

"Shish! Not so loud," he whispered and gestured me to follow him. I stared at him for about two seconds or so before I finally followed him; I was just too curious about this, I meant, what was he doing here -- during daytime? Wasn't he the one of them, who did always complain about the light being too bright during the day? Well, he seemed to be okay enough right now. He led me into one of the minor conference rooms, which where mostly unused lately.

"What's this?" I asked, having noticed that he had something in his hand. Where had he hidden it before?

"It's video camera," he answered with a smirk. "What did you think it was?"

"I can see this but what's this about? And why are we here?" I mouthed my curiosity finally into words, ignoring the mischievous glint in his eyes -- which was probably not a good idea but I was too curious.

"Shish," he whispered and pointed towards the gallery above.

I followed his gesture and nearly gasped, because there was another video camera.

"You put that up there?" I whispered.

He nodded, eyes sparkling with mirth, which lit up his whole face. It certainly would've made any of his fan girls swoon and coo but it made me feel very uneasy. I guess I knew him too well.

"It's about those hunters, isn't it?" I said after a long while, remembering something father had said; he nodded again.

"Does Kaname-sama know about this?"

"Um, oh, no." He looked down, looking very different from his usual self but then he looked up again and gave me an impish grin. "But someone had to do something about those hunters -- I mean that Mori-san."

"Mori -sama?" I repeated and continued staring at him for a moment longer, and then it clicked. Mori-sama, Aido was speaking about these hunters around him; the ones we had seen during the gathering. Again, I was wondering why they were here? The incident with Rogue or even that level D vampire didn't seem important enough for so many hunters to gather here, did it?

"Yeah, exactly and those goons of his." He agreed and pointed towards where the small conference room was. "They're going to meet here in the late afternoon again -- and than we're going to know more of their plans."

"Oh, all right. We'll wait then?" I nodded, finally understanding his plans.

"Exactly." He sighed and I was suddenly aware that he looked ashen, as he should do; being like this under the sun. It must be quite a feat to be up at these hours of the day for him.

"Aido-senpai," I replied while looking on my watch. "I've got to go now. Homework, you know?"

"Oh, of course." He blinked, nodding while hiding the camera somewhere beneath his clothing. He grinned then, gesturing again towards the conference room, just where he met me.

"Be here tomorrow afternoon." He said finally in a conspiratorial tone, his eyes lighting up in his usual cheerfulness. In short words, he was his usual Idol-senpai self, acting as flamboyant as always.

"Um," he then muttered in almost embarrassed tone. "Could you give this to Rogue?" He held a rose in his hand out for me to see. He swallowed. "You know I can hardly give it her myself."

"Oh, okay." I murmured, feeling a little awkward all at once but I took it from his hand anyway because I know he was right. He couldn't visit Sun Dorm without causing uproar. "I guess I can do this." I smiled thoughtfully, thinking about how depressed Rogue had been for the last few days. This should be enough to brighten her mood a little.

"Thank you Yuki-chan." He grinned and then I could only nod and watch him disappear almost as suddenly as he had appeared. I shook my head then. Wasn't like I was ever going to understand them; I tried though. Night Class, vampires, they were supposed to be creatures of the night, avoiding the sun, but that seemed to be very variable.

Definitely, vampires, weren't exactly what people thought of them -- and Aido-senpai just gave a fine example of that right now. I shrugged and went for my room -- finally without further distractions.

I went to Rogue's room to giver her the rose and back to mine without any further disruptions and then did my homework, just like my father had suggested. I sighed as it wasn't my preferred way of spending time but it had to be done.

Well, I got not interrupted until then, but Yori, I found her staring at me from her place. She was doing her homework too.

"Yuki?"

"Yes?"

"What was Aido-senpai doing out there with you?" She asked innocently.

"What?" I stared her and swallowed uneasily, realizing that she must have seen us from the window.

"Yuuki." She repeated again, sounding slightly annoyed and then more than a little bit tired. "I've seen him clearly."

"You have?" I repeated and sighed, knowing that Yori would not give up until she got what she wanted to know. I knew her in that was too well -- but I loved her too. She was my best friend.

"Yes, I did," she said and swallowed like she wasn't sure how to she should say something. "And I'm rather curious what he did there in broad daylight, you can imagine." Then the normally so serious Yori let out a little giggle to my surprise. "Uh, you wouldn't have a secret fling with him?"

"What?" I stuttered but sighed in relief when I heard her amused laugh again. Yori was joking, only joking. "How should I explain this to her?" I wondered.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out -- I didn't know how to explain things to her, but we were fortunately interrupted before I could say anything I shouldn't.

"Yuki-san?" I heard suddenly; so I turned away from Yori to see Yagari-sensei standing in the door. I hadn't heard him opening the door; so much I've been distracted by Yori's question, a few minutes ago. I frowned then because he looked distressed, which in it self was strange. He was too guarded to let things like this to be visible, normally. What was wrong?

"Yes, Yagari-sensei?" I replied politely. Yori beside me looked up too now, looking now even more curious than before. I could clearly see her wondering why he was here; Yori only knew him as Yagari-sensei, our teacher. Okay, Yori had every right to be curious since it would look strange for a teacher to visit one of his students here in her room, wouldn't it? But Yagari-sensei was far more than our teacher; he was the Hunter Association's current master hunter -- or was his position there in danger now?

"Would you please come with me?" He asked quietly, making sure I understood it was important.

I nodded, stood up and gave an apologizing gaze to Yori before I followed Yagari-sensei outside. Now it was my part of being curious -- and anxious. What ever this was, it couldn't be something good, now could it?

"Yagari-sensei?"

"Yes, Yuki-san?" He nodded and then stopped suddenly.

"What's this about? I mean, what do you want to talk with me about?" I watched him curiously, looking for any hint to find what brought him here.

"How's Zero-kun been lately?" He asked in return instead of answering my question.

"Normal I guess." I muttered, feeling unsure what to tell him and I tried very hard not to blush. Yeah, but I was Zero had to have something on his mind; his behaviour made that very clear -- but it was his right to brood and it was private yeah. I gave Yagari-sensei another look, recognizing deep lines of worry around his remaining eye and nodded finally.

"So, everything is normal then?" He replied, sounding not quite satisfied with my answer -- and he gave me a funny look, saying I should tell him the truth.

I swallowed harshly then, feeling torn apart between my loyalty to Zero and my own worry about him. "I don't know Yagari-sensei. He seems to be okay -- but there's something on his mind, I think." I almost whispered in the end, which got me a pleased nod from him.

I just stopped then, giving him another searching look. "There's something you wanted to tell me?" I asked slowly.

He sighed in return and nodded again. "Yeah, one could call it that."

"It's about Zero, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. I wish it weren't but I won't lie to you Yuki-san."

"What's … with Zero?"

"No, he seems to be fine … even if behaving a bit weird. No, it's the hunters around Mori-sama. They want to either hunt him down or see to it that he'll be transferred to Night Class."

"What? They …. ca-cannot do this! Can they?"

"Sadly, yes, they have the right to this. Even if it means forcing your father to agree to them."

"What can we do? There has to be something we could do?" I queried in high-pitched voice, sounding rather hysterical to my own ears.

He swallowed and shook his shoulders in response. "No, sadly there is nothing we can do."

He left me alone after this, and I needed a long while until I was ready to return to my room -- this was after all something big for me to deal with. Giving Zero only the choice from being hunted down like a beast or being put into Night Class, which was almost the same for him I guess; knowing how well he got along with them -- at least most of the time. That class change had been an exception; it had to been an exception; I shivered.

Well, other than this nothing else happened that day -- and I was glad about that.

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As you might have noticed this chapter was shorter, but that was what one of my reviewers has suggested to me because the prior chapters were very long. Oh, and no worries, the next chapter is already ready to go. :D

Thank you for reading and reviews are welcome, as always.

-

_Miarath_


	8. Lovely Disaster Part Two

Change of Heart - Chapter Eight

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

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_Warning: _There's a little bit of shonen-ai in this chapter, so if you don't like that, don't read!

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**Lovely Disaster - Part Two**

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Next day began in a daze, because I overslept and got too late for breakfast with father, which caused him to ask me worried questions I could not answer -- at least not honestly without blushing deeply red. So, I just said that I had slept badly and was still tired which seemed to satisfy him enough to let me be for the morning.

Yep, I've been dreaming of Zero, part dream and sadly, part nightmare where he had been locked away by these hunters. Whew, luckily that part was only a nightmare and not real -- but it got to me, bad enough to wake me twice last night. Well, last night it had felt real enough in my dream -- too real. I could clearly remember him being dragged away from me, and they put him into a dark cell with chains and all. Then they left him there until he got crazy with bloodlust, his eyes a haunting glowing hue of red and his fangs, they seemed to be everywhere not just his eyeteeth as usual.

I think I awoke right before they finally shot him; I sat straight up in my bed from all the dread of witnessing this -- I had felt so helpless in my dream. Needless to say that the amount of pain it brought made me now absolutely sure of my feelings for him -- cause it felt like a part of me died then.

Well, that was just a nightmare but it felt so real, too real to me.

So it was already past midday when I finally remembered that Aido wanted me to meet him at that conference room and flushed with shame. I hadn't really intended to forget this but I was so tired after last night. Aido-senpai had sounded so earnest when he asked me that yesterday, this had to be important but I all I could think this morning had been about Yagari-sensei's words, about Zero.

So it was already late, when I went there, only to find Yori standing behind me, watching me with a strange expression. She must have gotten too curious after yesterday and followed me here.

"Yori?" I mouthed. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, sorry, but I wanted to help you Yuki." She muttered sounding mildly guilty for following me but her eyes showed that she honestly wanted to help me. I sighed, Yori, she always wanted to cheer me up and help. Not that I didn't appreciate it but I had to think about Night Class's secret for the good of whole Cross Academy -- and maybe more than that too.

"Eh…" I tried to say something but we were interrupted by a very upset Aido-senpai, who wore a very abnormal frown on his face.

"Excuse me?" He raised a brow, giving Yori a questioning look. I simply shook my shoulders in resignation, knowing that Yori wouldn't give in, no matter what this was about.

"Em, it's okay, Yuki." Yori muttered suddenly. "I know."

"What? You do know what?" I stared at her, as if I saw her for the first time today.

She gave Aido a slightly nervous look and finally shrugged, looking me straight into the eyes. "I know about Night Class."

I continued staring at her. "How?" I whispered after a while, but got no answer, because Aido-senpai interrupted us at that moment again.

"Um, girls, could you do this another time?" He said with slightly raised brows, sounding slightly annoyed and impatient.

I swallowed and nodded, seeing as how important this seemed to be to him. I gave Yori an unsure look before returning my attention back to him. "You wanted to show me something, didn't you?"

He nodded and gestured for us to follow him, which wasn't all that easy for Yori and me because he didn't seem to tone his pace down for us. We went into an unused classroom, which was totally empty because it was being redone; fresh paint was heavy in the air but it was unlikely for anyone to find us here.

Aido lead us to one of only remaining tables here and we sat down there, watching him taking his camera out of his jacket. The video he showed us then, was exactly as I imaged about the conference room, he had showed me a day ago -- but that was the only thing I've expected to see.

It was the hunters, I had seen at the gathering and they were quite loud actually. We could hear them loud enough that we had to tune the sound down several times as they started yelling at each other. They seemed not to care whether someone heard what they were saying or not; or maybe they trusted on the main building being deserted because of the temporary break father ordered.

I almost wished I couldn't hear what they were talking about but I knew this was important, otherwise Aido would've never gone to these extends of recording them on video -- and went out in the broad daylight too. So, I listened quietly but with a feeling of growing dread in the pit of my stomach.

"Sure, these mutants are products of evolution. Yeah, but it's an evil evolution. God hadn't created Man like this. Hadn't created Man that he could fly the sky or move mountains … like a god himself. So, what I wanted to say is the following: we have to stop this, this evil evolution! Stop it now before it's too late!" Mori-sama said heatedly to the three other men around him.

"I see, but if you think those mutants being a menace to mankind, what about vampires? They do prey on humans since thousands of years. I say we need to do something to stop them first." The youngest looking one of them objected and frowned at his fellow hunters. He seemed not to understand why Mori-sama seemed to be focused on mutants only.

"But …" The oldest of the three, for he was the only one of them, who had grey hair, seemed to object with what has been said, but seemed not to know how to do so. He kept frowning at his companions, definitely not liking what they were thinking.

"No buts Aiki-san, they are a menace and need to be handled like one!" The youngest argued.

"But they're a controlled menace, Isamu-san."

"For how long? Take this Kiryu boy," Mori-sama objected with an evil glint in his eyes. "You know I saw him side by side with that pureblood, this Kaname Kuran. But how am I to complain? He isn't really one of us anymore, isn't he?"

"He did what?" Isamu-san looked now surprised at his fellow hunter's words. "You can't be serious, it's well-known that Kiryu-kun hates them more than anyone of us does."

"Yeah, you've heard me right, this Kuran backed him up, Kuran and the whole damned night class gang of this so called Cross Academy!" Mori-sama backed up his words, sneering at what had just said.

"Hmm, that was to be expected, sooner or later. You're right Zero Kiryu isn't one of us anymore nor is he truly a hunter." Isamu-san agreed finally, sounding disappointed about this news.

"You're darn right. He's a bloody vampire at that." Mori-sama replied with a low chuckle.

"So, you believe, he has betrayed us?" The taller one, who had short black hair, of them asked slowly, his voice was soft but I could hear the hidden menace behind it. I shivered at this, thinking of what this meant to Zero and possible for the whole academy. These men weren't nice at all and they were definitely more than a little danger to my father's dream.

I listed quietly while giving glancing towards Yori from time to time. I noticed how upset she was. It was understandable; it was clear to me that this was a little much for her because knowing that they were vampires and knowing their world was a different pair of shoes. No, I wasn't truly surprised that Yori knew about vampires anymore because I had suspected it to happen someday and I had been just surprised that someday had been today. Well, it wasn't all that difficult to figure out what our Night Class really was if you knew what to look out for.

Somehow I had expected it to happen, we were just too close for it to stay hidden forever. Yori was my best friend and I could trust her, but somehow I had hoped for her to stay obvious to this a bit longer.

After listening for a few minutes more I decided that I had heard enough and turned the camera off. I guess I must have stared at it for a while longer after the screen went dark because I noticed Yori getting nervous next to me. Well, I ignored her for the moment and turned my attention back to Aido on the other side.

"Can I have this?" I asked, knowing that I needed as least some proof of what I had seen and heard just minutes ago if I wanted to do anything good with it. Thankfully Aido just nodded and handed me the camera.

"It' okay. I've got another copy." He smiled then, but it was still a far cry from his usual one, way to serious for Idol-senpai. "It won't do them any good if they destroy this one. I've got it well hidden." Yes, he smiled but his gaze said clearly that I'd better do something about this or he would risk Kaname-sama's wrath and go with this to his Dorm-Leader to make sure something's being done at all.

So, I nodded my thanks to Aido, trying to reassure him that I would do my best to keep this from escalating, and motioned Yori to follow me. We left as quietly as we had come.

I wasn't sure what to do but I had to do something -- we had to do something, but how?

_If I went with this to father, would he understand?_

Technically we weren't even supposed to be here because father had ordered us to stay in our rooms, well at least Yori wasn't supposed to be out. Because of me being prefect I was supposed to patrol the school even it was implied that Zero and I would be doing it only at night.

"How?" I asked finally, trying to break the fearful silence between us.

"How what?" She replied and then nodded. "About Night Class?"

I nodded, ushering her to explain herself about this. Yes, I really needed to think about something else.

"Simple, I saw you and Zero one too many vanishing … and when you returned you've been wearing that." She swallowed and pointed towards the plaster on my neck, which I kept wearing even if the wounds were almost healed -- better to be safe than sorry in a school filled with vampires.

"You saw this?" My hand went to it, touching it because it seemed to itch every time I thought about why it was there in the first place and how it got there this time.

"Hmm, yes." She muttered and nodded again. "And with all the hints it was easy to come to only one conclusion even if it's really weird one."

"Don't talk about this with anyone, do you understand?" I gave her one serious look.

"Don't worry Yuki, I won't tell anyone." She reassured me with a shy smile and I nodded thankfully. I couldn't be glad enough for such a friend like her.

"How's Marie?" Yori asked then, I felt she too, wanted to change the subject, which was fine with me.

"As same as yesterday, Yori, but she wants to be called Rogue now. She still won't speak much with anyone." I replied, feeling now even sadder about the current situation. Marie, eh, Rogue, she didn't deserve all this shit; she's such a sweet girl and should be no-one's freak to beat on. Well, it certainly was sweet of Aido to think of her like that yesterday I thought and couldn't help a little smile despite the serious situation. Rogue had definitely liked that present from him.

So, I lead us back to Sun Dormitory but when we reached it I was given a curious look from Yori.

"This isn't the way to our room, Yuki."

"Right, it isn't." I agreed, seeing as we're sneaking into boys' dorms -- at bright daylight too. Thankfully, nobody saw us and we reached our destination without any further trouble.

"Zero?" I called quietly.

He opened the door, gave Yori and me a quick glance and gestured us to enter. Once we were inside and the door closed firmly behind us I gave Zero a short overview what Yori and I found out.

"We need to do something I think they even plan to do something against Night Class," I said and after a quick glance at both Zero and Yori. "And you, Zero, I think they want to kill you, too." I whispered in a hoarse voice, remembering now Yagari-sensei's words all too clearly.

"You're sure?" He frowned at this; it was obvious that he couldn't believe right away what I just said, but I think it wasn't the part about him, which gave him a hard time -- no, that he could believe anytime. I knew Zero, he did despise, what he was now, even if I did not so.

"They have no reason to remove me, yet, and even less to attack Night Class." He said seriously. "Look Yuki, you know I don't like them but there's simply no reason other than that…" he trailed off and jerked suddenly. "But if they found a way… no, I can't believe it." He muttered and murmured something unintelligible.

I stared at him, for I hadn't expected for him to care at all for Night Class or my father's dream, but what ever it was he was thinking right now, it made Zero seemingly shivering and for a moment I could see his eyes glazing over with a tint of red.

"Zero?" I asked worried.

"Yuki, Yori we've got to move Rogue away from here." He finally said. "It's her being here, a mutant, which heats this all up."

"But Marie … Rogue hasn't done anything." Yori objected. "At least not on purpose. It was an accident, yes?"

"I know, I know." He nodded. "But her being here and with what happened just a few days ago they cannot help thinking they have to do something to prevent further incidents. You know, most hunters aren't exactly open-minded and this whole mutant issue irks them even more. They think of her being here as a threat."

"And they remove threats." I concluded, nodding my understanding even if I did not agree with this; the facts were just to convincing. I felt cold dread gathering in my stomach again. This was slowly becoming an unwanted but familiar feeling to me. How could things turn ever into such a mess?

"Then we better find a way to move her away from Cross Academy." Yori said. "Yuki, I think it would be best if she returns to her friends, to America, don't you think?"

"Yes, of course." I agreed and smiled a little. I tried to hope that this would solve or at least cool down this whole situation but I was pretty certain that we would need to do more than just this.

So, we went to Rogue's room and explained the whole situation to her. At first she simply stared at us, not giving any sign of reaction. "Shock," I thought. "She's still in shock after all this happened."

"Rogue?" I said but she didn't answer, no reaction from her.

I noticed that she gave Zero a strange but quick glance and then it happened.

Rogue moved faster than I thought possible for her and had Zero's gun pulled out in a flash.

She already had taken off its safety and pressed it against her head in one smooth movement before we could do anything to stop her. Her hands weren't shaking but her eyes, they were brimming with tears but she fought them back.

"I cannot live on like this!" She yelled and stared at me, holding me in place with her gaze. "Yuuki, you don't know how it is not being able to touch anyone … because of this damned curse!"

I hadn't known that she felt this bad about her mutation. Yes, I had known that she had problems with it but not like this; not those kinds of problems were you wanted to kill yourself. Well, I hadn't really thought about what it meant for her life.

"Your mutation, Rogue, what does it do?" I asked quietly, trying to get her to talk so I could try to come up with something to calm her down.

"I-I can't touch anyone, Yuki. If I do so, it's like I'm sucking people's life force, thoughts and abilities out of them; I absorb people. Killing them." She sobbed and began pulling the trigger.

"That won't work." Zero said in return. "Works only against vampires." He didn't glare at her nor did he smirk; no, he was absolutely serious but he also didn't try to stop her. I guess he understood her better than anyone of us. After all Zero had tried to kill himself, too.

"What?" She gasped. "You're not lying to bring me up from this?"

"No, I'm not." He reassured. "But I don't think that this is necessary, Marie-san. Your friends, shouldn't they be able to investigate why this cure failed right now? They might find a way to fix it." Zero's tone was earnest and I felt he meant every bit of what he just said and I could only hope that Rogue would see that too and come to her senses again. So, I gave her a reassuring smile myself.

Rogue stared at him for a long and swallowed deeply. "Maybe," she replied hesitatingly. "They would need to … since it happened repeatedly." She trembled now but the desperate expression in her eyes had thankfully vanished.

"Here, this belongs to you." She nodded finally and started to give Zero's gun back to him but before Zero could put his gun back into the safety of its holster Rogue stumbled over its chain.

She fell against Zero, who in turn tried to catch her on instinct and touched her right hand, which was bare since she didn't wear the gloves Yori had given her. I think she'd thought not needing them, as she was staying in her room. Well, how it was too late and all I could do was stare in shock for the moment.

He and Rogue were staring at each other with eyes wide eyes, their hands still touching I noticed. They were trembling, like they were about to have a seizure -- I trembled too.

My heart nearly stopped then; this couldn't happen, not to him, not Zero.

"Zero." I whispered breathlessly. For a moment it looked like he was fainting but then he started to shiver wildly. He was very pale but so was Rogue and both seemed to convulse with fits of some kind. Like trembles travelling from Rogue to Zero and back again. Darn, why didn't they move to break the touch? I felt anger welling up in me together with something else, possession; I realized I didn't want anybody else to touch Zero. He was mine.

I leaped for Zero, trying to pull him away from her and so breaking his contact to her but I was stopped by Rogue's frantic scream and the feral look on Zero's face. Zero was raging at her with deep red eyes and bared fangs. I had never seen him like this, not even during the first time he tried to bite back at the pool.

"Zero!" I screamed and finally managed to push Rogue away from him, thus breaking the contact. Thankfully it worked, only not as quite as I hoped it would.

"Zero?" I asked again but he just stared at me with wide-open eyes. I turned at Marie glaring at her in turn.

"How could you?" I yelled at her. I know it wasn't rational but all I could think at that moment that she had hurt Zero and it made me crazy with rage. Well, she didn't respond to me, no instead she stared at Zero, like she hadn't seen him ever before. She trembled again and had to support herself by leaning on a nearby chair.

"How can you live with this, this raging hunger?" Rogue's voice was heavy with emotion; it was rough from what happened moments before. I ignored here and kept my focus on Zero.

Zero didn't react to her question but stared into space; his eyes looked empty.

"Zero?" I asked, feeling sick in my stomach suddenly. I touched him at the shoulder, moving him further away from Rogue and trying to get a reaction from him, but he didn't respond.

He didn't react to my question either, but just in that moment, the door went flying open and Kaname barged into the room, took a quick look over the scene in the room and fixed his glare on Rogue. He looked so angry, his fangs were showing and eyes glowing red; he glared at Rogue -- and then the window behind us burst into pieces and things started to fly around.

He was losing control, which was something I had never seen before; to say it scared me was an understatement. Wrong, this was so wrong. I didn't want to feel scared about Kaname-senpai. I shouldn't feel like this, right? But things went worse then because I could feel it, his terrible anger and I could see him focussing it on no one else but Rogue.

What had just happened? …

N-No, this cannot be happening…

"No!" I heard myself screaming and leaped between Kaname and Rogue no matter that a moment before I had wanted to tear her apart myself. "D-don't! Please don't Kaname-senpai!" I pleaded -- and he complied thankfully after an eternity of uneasiness.

"It had been an accident! Please d-don't!" I tried to explain.

"Accident?" Kaname repeated slowly as if to taste my words for their truth in them. It made me squirm under his gaze.

"Yes, Kaname-senpai, an accident." I repeated in voice as steady as I could manage, which sounded still far too weak to my own ears. How could he believe me, when I sounded like this?

"Accident," he then whispered while his glance turned to Zero, who kept staring into space with the same creepy expression on his face as he had minutes ago -- his eyes, they looked so empty. "Gone, Zero was gone." I thought with dread. "No, no, no …"

"Zero." I heard him say then, almost a whisper -- and Zero jerked around as if trying to pin down the source of the voice, he just heard. They still looked far away, like he was dreaming or something like that, but they were no longer empty. No, but they looked so inhuman. "Predator" I whispered and shivered again.

"Kiryu, it's all right." Kaname repeated, facing Zero directly now. He had pulled his face to him, so making Zero look at Kaname -- face to face.

"Kuran?" Zero whispered in return, sounding like being in trance like, but his eyes, they still seemed not to recognize anything in this room or what was happening around him. "Is he even aware of us around him?" I wondered.

Well, what happened next, seemed to happen like in slow motion, like being in a weird dream where you could only participate but not control anything. First, things seemed to freeze, a feeling like jelly of sorts. Kaname was staring at Zero, as if trying to figure out what's going on in his head. I know, I wondered briefly about the amount of worry in his eyes, which made me even more confused. Kaname cared this much for Zero? I had thought he only tolerated him because of me, but this was so different.

Then, suddenly, Zero smiled softly -- warmly and some life seemed to return into his eyes, but he was still staring at Kaname. Zero was looking at Kaname like a love dazed teen, I thought automatically and then choked at my thought. What the hell?

Next thing I remember was him leaning forward, closer to Kaname, close enough to almost touching him. And then …

I felt like my legs were giving away under me and my vision turned blurry, because -- Zero leaned even closer in, pulling Kaname to him and then … he kissed him, straight on the lips.

Zero was kissing Kaname!

I swallowed painfully, seeing as Kaname didn't seem to mind, he was kissing him back like he'd just forgotten where he was or that there were other people with them in the room. Had he just forgotten about me? I felt like crying.

I stared in shock but I was too frozen. to move, Z-Zero and Kaname? I'd never ever expected something like this; this utter bliss on Zero's face, being mirrored on Kaname's expression?

No, this was too much and my head swirled and everything went black, losing the ground under my feet like I've just lost grip on my love. I fell, that's all I knew but I think I heard someone calling my name but couldn't make out anything else. I think I heard Yori's speaking in a worried tone to me -- and I think she had been the one to catch me because I don't remember hitting the ground, but I wasn't sure because my vision was still very blurry.

The voices, I heard where too far away for me to understand, too dully.

It didn't matter, because my world had just shattered into tiny little pieces -- like the window of this room.

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Thanks for all your kind reviews. :D

Thanks for reading, oh, and yes there's a cliffy in this one. ;)

_Miarath_


	9. A Walk Through The Park Part One

Change of Heart - Chapter Nine

For Disclaimer see Chapter One

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**A Walk Through The Park - Part One**

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I didn't know how long I was actually out but I was woken by familiar voices, calling me by my name, I think.

"Yuki?" I heard Kaname, then a second one voice, Zero, repeating what the first one had said and they were sounding both worried.

"What happened?" I wondered for a disjointed confused moment before I remembered that I had lost consciousness -- fainted; and most important why I had done so.

"Yuki-chan, can you hear us?" He tried again because I hadn't answered.

Yes, I really tried to answer, but I got nothing out, like I lost my voice somehow. I felt so tired. Then someone held something under my nose and my eyes flew open at its smell and I felt a lot better all of a sudden, but that smell burned in my nostrils.

"What?" I stared into Rogue's dark eyes. She, too, looked worried but I could hear her snorting in response to my startled question; no-nonsense girl, wasn't she?

"Thank you." I added, knowing whatever she had put into this thing had brought me back to normal. My vision was clear now and I could see that she sat in front of me and was holding a small flacon under my nose. Smelling salt, I noticed, like I was some kind of noble lady, right out of one of those classic movies, but I had fainted like one too, hadn't I? I rubbed my eyes, trying to get the last cobwebs out of my system and sat up, so I could face her eye to eye.

"You better now?" She asked then continuing to eye me carefully, probably for any kind of relapse to my former fainting. I felt embarrassed, because I realized how weak I must look this way. I snorted inwardly.

"Oh," I muttered and felt surprisingly well. "Yes, I'm really okay now." Then I remembered the strange exchange between her and Zero, which seemed to be rather unusual compared to how her powers worked normally. She had said her powers sucked the lifeforce out of people, hadn't she? Well, I was really glad that in Zero's case seemed not the case, because Zero seemed to be fine now. Whatever, I was still curious about the how and why.

"What happened?" I asked her, nodding towards Zero so she would know what I meant.

"I don't know." She muttered in return and sighed. "It has never done this before. Maybe it's because of what he is."

"You mean because he's a vampire?" I added because it was safe for me to say since everyone here knew his secret.

"Yeah, that's the only thing I can think of," She agreed, "but it gives me the creeps. The way he's hungering for blood, it's terrible."

"What?!" We were interrupted by a disturbed looking Zero. "You know my thoughts and … feelings?"

"Don't worry you're thoughts are safe." Rogue retorted in an almost annoyed manner, which was quite a feat, while getting the brunt of one Zero's patented death glares. "I didn't got much more than what I told Yuki right now -- thankfully." She sounded annoyed, which wasn't really surprising course who wanted to have other people thoughts and feelings inside their head?

"You better not --and don't tell anybody." He snorted, seeming to accept her words, but his gaze added a ''or I kill you' to it.

"Zero!" I yelled at him.

"What?"

"You know Rogue wouldn't do anything like that." I said to him then turning back to Rogue. "You wouldn't, would you?" I eyed her carefully, because Zero had a point there: it wasn't just his own secrets to keep but the one consisting that vampires were really existing and that should never get into the public. I shivered and continued staring at her until she finally nodded.

"No, of course not. I don't want anymore trouble than we already have."

"That's right, we can't risk that." I added, thinking about the stories my adoptive father had told me, about the war between vampires and humans. That had been too terrible to risk for it to happen again.

"Can you get up?" I heard Kaname's voice suddenly, who had seemingly waited for me to finish my talk with Rogue but seemed to be anxious for me to get up now.

I nodded and tried to stand on my own, which went almost well but for a short dizzy spell and I ended up in both Zero and Kaname's arms, sort of, because they had stepped in, preventing me from falling again.

Well, it made me feel rather awkward, leaning half on Zero's arm around my waist and Kaname holding my right hand. They were so close that it made my heart flutter, because this was so much like a dream coming true, only almost. Geez, if things would've been different I'd would've been blushing bright red from being this close to them, but right now it just felt only awkward.

Well, finally I stood on own two feet again but I still felt pretty peachy had to take a deep breath to steady myself until the room around me finally stopped spinning. Well, I sat down on Rogue's bed, just in case this was just a fluke. Then, sitting there, feeling like me once again; I couldn't help staring at them. I noticed that they were still standing rather close together and blushed, thinking what that implied. Well, they seemed to be completely unaware of it, but it said more than thousand words about their relationship to me.

"Why?" I asked, no, queried them then, which resulted in Zero blushing and Kaname squirming slightly under my look, which was rather unusual too. I had somehow expected for him to keep his calm all the time, but I had been wrong, because I could see him biting his lip like he didn't know what to say for once. What was wrong with them, with me? They made my head spin; one moment they had looked so scared about me, when I felt dizzy again and needed support and now they acted -- guiltily?

Yes, it was definitely guilt I could see in their faces. I know, my stare made them feeling uncomfortable but I couldn't stop it. Wha, wait was Kaname blushing, too? No, I had to be imagining this, no; it was there, a trace of pink on his cheeks. I shivered of the strangeness of this. I really wasn't used to him losing his cool.

"It's complicated." They both muttered out after a long pregnant pause, seemingly at a loss of words. Well, I was too and staring at them didn't seem to solve anything at all.

So, I finally managed to turn away from them, looking down. Yes, I tried to figure this out but failed miserably. I didn't understand this -- my heart didn't want to. Didn't want to believe, what I've seen with my own eyes. I felt hurt and yet, I was happy in a way. I didn't understand myself as well.

"Why are they acting so guiltily?" I wondered. "It was just a kiss, wasn't it?" My head spun with undefined emotion. True, physical I was fine now, but confused about my contracting feelings. I loved them both and part of me wanted to be happy for them, for they had looked so utterly happy then. If it were just me to feel hurt and betrayed -- I would have known how to deal with that, but this? This was a crazy maze, I feared never to escape from.

I shook my shoulders, better not to think of this right now. So, I decided to think about something else, and gave the room another overlook. Well, this room was really a mess with stuff lying around everywhere. There was not much furniture here, just two beds, a closet and a desk with two chairs, but nothing had escaped Kaname's wrath undamaged. Was that just a few moments ago? "There's not much left untouched." I said aloud.

"Yeah, looks that way." Rogue replied and snorted. "Well, it's a good thing I'm leaving anyway, isn't it?" She sounded almost amused, but I guess, it was just black humour.

"I think should call them now, so can go home." She muttered and started looking for something then cursed under her breath then shivered and put on a jacket. It had gotten a bit chilling in the room, because of the broken window. I guess it was later than I thought it was, because it was already dark outside and it was getting colder by the minute.

"Oh, right that's a good idea." I replied. I had all but forgotten that; why we were here in the first point. "I forgot." I looked down, once again, feeling embarrassed now. I shouldn't have forgotten that. She was my friend, right? "Sorry."

"It's okay," she replied, but then gave her room another look, observing the damaged state; her room was in and shook her shoulders. "Well, my mobile is dead. I'd need to use another phone."

"We can use his office to make the call, I think." I swallowed. Kaname's rage had done really a number on her room. There were dashes, dents on the furniture and broken pieces scattered all over the room. I turned my gaze back to Zero, who was now leaning to the wall on the right side, carefully avoiding any splinters from the nearby closet. He looked surprisingly calm; the way he was standing there, like his usual self again. I wished that was true for everything else too.

"Yes." Zero agreed in a quiet thoughtful voice and shrugged. "The headmaster might sound crazy at times but I'm sure he'll help us in this."

"So, that's it then." I said and stood up and motioned for the others to follow me.

Well, Rogue, Yori and Zero were doing this, following me to the door, but I stopped because I saw the puzzled look on Kaname's face -- right, he didn't know about this. "Oh, darn, Aido-senpai," I thought, "couldn't tell him about the video or he'll be asked how I got this." Thankfully it wasn't necessary to mention the video at all and the camera was still safe in my jacket's pocket. Good think I decided against my usual uniform and had chosen casual clothes instead -- the uniform didn't have any place to hide it, even if it was one of these little hyper modern thingies.

"Well," I started but trailed off, not knowing how to explain this to him but he just nodded.

"I think I've heard enough." He replied, scratching his chin in a thoughtful manner. "She's going to leave Cross Academy, am I right?"

"Um, yes, Kaname-senpai." I answered, feeling relief that I didn't have to explain anything more to him.

"Kaname is enough." He said softly, but he was sounding a little sad.

Oh right, I had forgotten that again, he didn't want me to address him like this. I swallowed uneasily. Yes, I tried to, but it just felt so wrong doing this -- and right now it felt even more like that, like I had any right to use his first name like this.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, "Kaname."

"So, you're leaving for the headmaster's office?" He continued making a motion to include us all in.

I simply nodded in return.

"Then, there's no need for me to tag a long, too. You don't need me." He said finally, glancing from me to Zero and back. There was a strange expression on his face, something I couldn't place but it looked too much like pain.

"No, guess not." I agreed quietly, feeling torn about this; part of me wanted him to stay but the other, stronger part of me wanted him to go because I wanted to be able to concentrate on the more important issue: seeing that Rogue would safely return to her former school, away from danger.

So, when I went to go I heard a yawn from behind, Yori. Oh, I had completely forgotten about her. She had to be tired after all what happened, since she wasn't used to stay up this long. "Yori, I love you for your support but …" Oh, crap, how should I say this? I didn't want to hurt her feelings course she was really dear to me.

"It's okay, Yuki. I know you three can do this alone." She replied softly, yawning again. "I'm sorry, but I am really tired. Besides, I should be in my room anyway."

"Right, you would probably get a ruffle from the headmaster anyway." I agreed and pulled her into a tight hug before I let her finally go.

So, I left with Rogue and Zero for the headmaster's office. Well, Zero, my glance kept returning to him even while I tried not to miss a step on the stairs. My adoptive father, what would he say to this? Oh, better not thinking about this, because he would probably just get another fit of crazy laughter.

Well, but I couldn't stop thinking about Zero and Kaname, even if I tried not to. Why? I wondered. I felt kind of alone -- and betrayed somehow. I mean, how would you feel if you found out suddenly, that the both guys you've been yearning for, had a thing -- for each other? Where did that leave me? Ironic, wasn't it? There I've been pondering on whom to choose and now it looked like I would be left out in the end. I mean it wasn't very likely for them to love me too after this, now was it?

I swallowed then and turned my attention back to Marie, eh, Rogue of course. Her eyes seemed so very far away and face so pale. "Poor girl," I thought, "it must be bad having to leave again." I wondered then and sighed. Well, my private misery seems to be little compared to what she had to go through. I sighed when I noticed that we were almost there. Hmm, was he my father or headmaster? I guess both, and chuckled slowly, feeling silly about these thoughts.

"How are you?" I asked suddenly, wanting to talk, to think about something else.

"Peachy," she replied with a sad little smile. "You know it's funny, my life. All I ever do is leaving."

"I'm sorry." I spurted out, feeling bad to make her feeling worse.

"Nah, don't be sorry. It's not you, just make sure those bastards get their arses kicked." She snorted and broke out into a fit of hysterical giggle. "I almost wish them to awake one day to realize that everybody else was a mutant but them."

"They're not exactly human either." Zero snorted in disgust.

"What?" Rogue jerked around, looking surprised at Zero.

"They didn't choose to be hunters. They're born that way, Rogue."

"Like you."

"Yeah, like me, only I'm not exactly a hunter anymore." He explained, his eyes turning glacial and it made me wonder about his feeling about hunters in general right now. I mean it had been his whole definition of purpose in life been before, but now, I wasn't so sure anymore -- about anything. Needless to say, that this feeling of uncertainty about anything was damn scary too.

"Normal humans aren't exactly fit to hunt vampires." I added, because I got the feeling that Zero wasn't about to explain why hunters were different anytime soon. Well, I wasn't exactly sure if he knew the answer to this, but I knew that Zero wasn't exactly talkative about hunters in general and right now, even less than usual. I think he felt ashamed of their behaviour and didn't know how to act about it.

Well, whatever, I didn't have to worry because Rogue just nodded and we were walking in silence, until we almost reached our destination and I was about to knock at my father's door. I was stopped by Rogue's voice beside me and hesitated.

"How does he do it?" I heard her murmuring to herself, all over again but she was so quiet about it that I didn't think she wanted an answer from us. Her words made me think about why she didn't want us to call her Marie anymore. She had said; Marie, that was a cute normal girl with a normal life but that wasn't her, not anymore. No, she had to be Rogue, nice but dangerous to anyone, who was unfortunate enough to touch her.

"Such bitterness," I thought to myself and compared her to Zero without any further thought, forgetting for the moment what just happened. What was the difference between the two? Zero, as bad tempered and moody he was, he seemed never this bitter to me -- even when he tried to kill himself -- strange but true. He did it because he thought it was the right thing to do, but Rogue?

She had seemed to be so strong that I had been really surprised to see her so desperate. Why didn't she say something to us? We were her friends, weren't we? Yeah, but we were pretty helpless in this mess. I was just relieved that there was a way out of this, even if I didn't like it.

Calling her old friends, her family, to take her back home, was the only way out of this.

"Rogue?" I asked quietly before I finally knocked at the door.

So, we entered the headmaster's office and I could finally try to concentrate on something else. Well, I doubted that I could ever forget that look, that look on Zero's face, when he kissed Kaname. He had looked so -- happy, a so foreign expression on his face that I felt bewildered by it; and yet, it had even been worse, because that look had been mirrored on Kaname's face as well.

Damn.

"Yuki-chan?" He asked me, looking worried, probably because why we were here at this hour of the day.

"Father," I replied, knowing that if I wanted his complete attention it had to be this way, calling him father, as he wanted me to do. "We're here because we think it's best if, Marie, that's Rogue now, is leaving Cross Academy."

After hearing this he gave a long serious look and nodded finally. "I see."

"Um…"

"There's more to this then?"

"Yes, I'm sorry but there is this." I showed him the video, watching in silence his face getting paler and paler every minute until I turned it off.

"T-that's …" He muttered and then cursed quietly in too many languages for me to understand -- and it took a while for him to return his attention back to us. "They're completely mad!"

Finally, he took the camera from me and simply nodded towards the phone on his desk. I noticed with worry how old he all of a sudden looked and sighed in regret, but it wasn't like I had any other choice but to come to him with this.

Well, I just wanted to be done with this at that time and I waited uneasily for Rogue to finish her call. After all things where bad enough that they couldn't get any worse than this, could they? Well, I hoped not.

After she was done and we left for father's living room, each one of us with a cup of tea, sitting on the couch; father thought we needed it, guess he was right. I felt already better after a few sips of hot tea but the silence around us was getting on my nerves now.

"So, how fast, do you think they could come here?" I asked to bridge the uneasy quite around us.

Rogue knitted her brows for a moment, obviously thinking about her answer and nodded finally. "I guess they'll be here tonight in a few hours."

"That fast?" That was Zero, sounding more than a little surprised and his eyes, they had changed colour again. Strange how they did that all the time, one moment they were grey, then silver, lavender and all tones in between.

Well, Rogue just nodded again. "Yes, that fast." She smiled slightly, which was also the first real smile I had seen on her since that mess with that class change; but it felt bittersweet, because it felt like farewell. Suddenly I felt very warm inside -- Rogue, she didn't want to leave. Did that mean she really liked to be our friend, too? I gave her a warm smile in return then, trying to make her understand that I didn't want her to leave either, but there was no other choice right now, was there?

"So, we just wait then, right?" I replied.

"I guess so." She muttered in return and leaned back, trying to get as comfortable as possible.

In the end we hadn't had to wait all that long, because her friends were faster here than I thought ever being possible.

I saw them first, when I had been walking around, outside of father's office, not very different from normal patrol but there were no vampires to guard tonight. I couldn't face the uneasy silence inside so I was here. One moment I've been looking idly out of one of the large windows, observing the peaceful stillness of the Academy's park at night. That was, when I saw strangers at the school ground.

It had to be them, Rogue's friends, because they were looking so out of place, so exotic, but I noticed them only because I was used to look out for people on the Academy ground, which weren't supposed to be there. There were four of them: a tall woman with shoulder-length white hair but dark skin and next to her stood an ordinary teenager and beside him the bulk of a man, named Logan-san and then there was that a blue man? Well, I wasn't sure because it was pretty dark to see any details.

So, I went back to the others who were still in father's dinning room.

"Guys, they're here." I told them, seeing their expectant faces and grinned cause I couldn't take this anymore, all this pressure. "I'm going to greet them." I added and was almost past the door in a matter of seconds, because I was anxious to meet them. Well, I was almost running, but I was interrupted before I could reach the hallway.

"Yuki?"

"Yes, Rogue?" Rogue had stopped me with her voice and a slight touch on my shoulder. I shivering involuntary, because I could feel her touch tremble ever so softly. What?

"Please don't tell them anything about my stay at Moon Dorm. Please?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"Why?" I looked puzzled at her, unsure why she wanted this keep hidden.

"You know it's about Logan. He made me promise to stay away … from Night Class." She repeated and swallowed, pausing for a moment of poignant silence. "I don't want him to find out anything about … Well, Aido, he had been so sweet." She smiled to herself. "I don't want him to be hurt."

"Oh, I see." I agreed, "I won't tell them." I smiled conspiratorially at her before I finally went to meet her friends to welcome here.

It was night and school was still off so I hoped nobody would see us. I approached them carefully, trying to stay in the shadows. Couldn't hurt to be careful, you'd never knew if anyone was having a sleepless night and was looking out the window. Which was rather easy because of my dark clothes. I think I never was this glad to wear black than now.

There they were; I had reached them and stopped suddenly -- because I realized, that he was really blue and not my overactive imagination.

"You ... you're Rogue's friend's, right?" I asked the blue man in front of me carefully. I know it was rude, but I was really surprised about his appearance, I guess. "I'm Yuki Cross." I added hastily, trying to undo the rudeness of my previous question.

"My name is Kurt Wagner, Fräulein Yuki." He answered and smiled a smile with too many teeth, but strangely I didn't felt threatened by him. His voice was warm and made me feel safe with him. In a way that was weird, because of the contrast to his looks. Yeah, it was weird, considering the fact that he looked very much like a demon.

"He is no Demon, Yuki. No, he's just a mutant." I reminded myself but he did look rather weird with this blue fur and these signs on it; I had a hard time to keep myself from staring at him.

"You know why we're here?" It was the same man, Logan-sama, who brought Marie here.

"Yes, I know. I know why you're here, Logan-san," I replied, remembering in time that he disliked the honorific sama. "You're here to take Marie, that is Rogue, home."

"Yes, you're right Yuki-chan." The white haired woman replied softly. "'We're here to take our Rogue home."

"I'm sorry this didn't work out." I found myself apologizing for this disaster and looked down because I suddenly felt like I had failed, failed Rogue. I mean I was a prefect and it was my duty to protect my fellow students, wasn't it? Well, I did a fine job there with her.

"Nah, it's not your fault what those … morons did, Yuki-chan." Logan-san snorted at this, whose sound made me look up again.

I gave the other two a curious look. "So, I know you're Wagner-san and I knew Logan-san from when he brought Marie here but. …"

"Oh, all right. I guess it's rude not introducing us. My name is Ororo Monroe and this is Bobby …" She gestured to the young man beside her. "Rogue's friend."

"I guess, you'll better follow me then," I said and turned around to show them the way to my father's rooms where Zero and Rogue were waiting for us. It was better for her to stay inside, than risking questions about why she was on the Academy ground at night, which was strictly forbidden for day class students.

"They're in my adoptive father's dining room." I explained, while I lead them to a side entry to make sure we could enter the Academy's main building without being noticed. Yeah, I know, there shouldn't be anyone but I was slightly paranoiac in this. I just hoped there would be no curious fan girls sneaking around but I could only hope so, even if there was no reason for them to do so. You never knew here what crazy ideas they would come up with.

"So, this is the school she was send to?" Kurt asked while gazing around. "It doesn't look very Japanese."

"No, it doesn't." I agreed. "It's been build by an European architect, Wagner-san."

"Please call me Kurt."

I sighted and shrugged. There was nothing I could do about it; he was a foreigner after all and not familiar with our customs.

"All right Kurt." I agreed slowly. Well, I couldn't help but feeling uncomfortable doing so. I knew him for about a few minutes? I heard Logan chuckling at this.

"What is so funny about this?" Um, Kurt replied.

"You know, you've just asked her to be your friend, Kurt." Logan explained it to him.

I think he must have blushed at this, only I couldn't see it because of his blue fur, which by the way was really smooth looking.

"It's okay," I heard myself saying. "I'd like to be your friend Kurt." I smiled at him. Yes, he really seemed to be a gentle guy, despite his strange exterior.

"So, here we are. This is where the others are waiting." I said finally and knocked softly at the door, but it wasn't Rogue opened. It was Zero.

"This is my friend Zero Kiryu, " I said to the four behind me. "Zero, these are Rogue's friends."

"Bobby." Rogue whispered and stared at them. Her friends were still standing in the door, reluctant to enter the room.

"Rogue?" Bobby replied, his voice sounded rather unsure. "Was he her boyfriend?" I wondered, thinking about what she had told me about him. He seemed to be nice.

"Yes, I guess, it's Rogue again."

"I'm sorry."

"Me too." She muttered and looked down.

"Um, Rogue? There's something I'd like to tell you."

"Yes?"

"The professor is alive."

"How? Really? You're not making a bad joke, do you?"

"Yeah, Chuck's alive and kicking, Marie." Logan-san chuckled at this and gave her a pat on the shoulder, which made her snort but she didn't complain of him calling her Marie.

Ororo took a deep breath and nodded finally. "It's that woman, Liandra from the Shiar, who brought him back." She said in a very serious voice. Well, I've got no idea what she was talking about and Rogue too because she gave Ororo only another confused look.

"Yep, you should've seen him in the gym, Marie" Logan added and grinned even wider.

"In the gym, Logan? I thought he couldn't …walk?"

"Well, now he can." Bobby said seriously. "He can walk Rogue. I don't know what really happened to him but he's back and I'm glad about it."

"Yes, it's like a miracle," Ororo smiled and nodded towards Marie. "And we can do this too. Have faith." She added and pulled Rogue in a warm hug, which was fined because Rogue was wearing her gloves now.

"Yeah, head up, kid and listen what Ro's telling you. This ain't the end of it." Logan gave Marie an encouraging pat to the back, carefully avoiding touching any of her bare skin.

"I hope so." Rogue smiled back, hesitatingly.

"Um, Rogue … I've missed you." I heard Bobby whisper to her.

"Me too." She smiled softly and her eyes lit up with warmth.

"Bobby, he must be her boyfriend," I thought and felt very uncomfortable with the two of them staring at each other like this and I know I was fidgeting with my hair then. I glanced to Zero who gave me his familiar half-smile as if saying that he wasn't feeling comfortable either.

"What's this?" I heard Bobby ask her and my gaze returned back from the door, which I had been thinking about to open to leave them alone.

"Oh, this?" Rogue touched the rose in her jacket softly with a smile flickering on her lips. "Nothing for you to worry about. It's just a gift from a friend." Oh, she was enjoying this, guess he somehow deserved it too, after all what she had told me.

"Really?"

I guess that was when I really felt like leaving the room; this was private and I didn't want to eavesdrop. So, I motioned for Zero to follow me outside, for I wanted to give Rogue a little privacy with her friends, which looked more like family to me -- and especially with her boyfriend.

Well, everybody needed that, family, I thought; my family that was Zero, Kaname and the headmaster. I didn't want to lose them, ever -- even if it looked like it was a rather dysfunctional family right now.

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Well, I tried to write a little more Rogue into this chapter.

Hope you liked it.

Thanks for reading and feel free to review.

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_Miarath_


	10. A Walk Through The Park Part Two

Change of Heart - Chapter Ten

For Disclaimer see Chapter One

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**A Walk Through The Park - Part Two**

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After a while -- and after some more quite conversations between Marie and her friends, she and her friends joined us. They were ready to leave, so I led them back outside, using the same way I used before to lead them inside. Everything should have gone smoothly for nobody was supposed to be outside their rooms and especially not here in the school building right now, but we were seen, right then when we went downstairs.

It was Katashi, who stopped in whatever he was doing and stared at us. What was he doing here? He was supposed to be in his room at Sun Dorm. Well, he opened his mouth to say something but he never got it out because Zero interrupted before Katashi could do anything. I watched how he stepped in front the younger of the two Mori brothers and fixed him with his glare -- and Katashi seemed to be caught by it because he froze.

"You haven't seen anything Katashi Mori," Zero said in strange tone, which sent shivers down my spine. "Nor have you heard anything. We have never been here." I stared from him to Katashi -- and back; what was happening?

Katashi's eyes glazed over then and he nodded slowly.

"You're not supposed to be here, so go back to you room and sleep." Zero ordered him to do.

What? I stared at them, watching Katashi leaving like a sleepwalker, like in trance -- hypnosis? I guess I've stood there with my mouth wide open in surprise too. What had just happen?

"That?" He replied to my unspoken question and shrugged. "Just a little bit of hunter magic. Works because he's rather low rang in hunter terms."

"That was a close call." I replied, taking his explanation as it was. I know he wouldn't say anything more, but he had surprised me again. Well, I shouldn't be surprised, because I've always thought that there was more to Zero than what he let us see.

"The rest is just a walk through the park." He muttered finally and shook his shoulders, meaning we should continue -- and he was right of cause. Wasn't as if we had all night for this -- and the longer it took for us to get Rogue and her friends to leave the Academy's grounds the more probable it was that someone would notice us.

"I wish." I replied in doubtful tone. Well, Zero was right, it was really only a walk through the park -- but this was Cross Academy and it wasn't your ordinary park. Who knew what could happen? It was night after all and if Katashi didn't follow rules, what about his brother? They were always together, as far I knew.

"I agree and we cannot have this being repeated." The woman, Ororo Monroe said softly and then her eyes changed to an eerie white. I gasped in surprise but she only smiled in response. True, I knew they were mutants but I had no idea what their powers were; I still had no clue.

The air outside had turned into a thick fog when I finally opened the door for us. I gave her another look, which she replied with a shrug and a grin. Oh, so she could manipulate the weather, neat. Very handy this one, for I doubt anybody would see us in this fog. Yet, I was glad that Logan led the way because I'm pretty sure I would've ended up in the wrong place without help. Well, I guess Zero wouldn't have any problems with that either, but I was only a human girl, nothing special, really.

It should have taken us only a few minutes to reach the main gate, normally, but I wasn't sure where we were or how far we were, not in this fog. In the end, it took us far longer than a few minutes, because something happened, which stopped us from leaving the Academy's garden the way we wanted to do. I think there must have been a noise, because I felt suddenly like someone was watching me and glanced nervously at my surroundings. I glanced and noticed that he was quite tense. He looked wary too; so, he had probably felt it as well but I couldn't be sure cause he looked almost always that way, wary.

I still had no clue were we were and my sense of time had been off since the late afternoon. Well, all I could see was fog, but I got more nervous by any passing moment. I shivered, partly because of the wet heavy coldness of the fog around us but the larger part was because that uneasy feeling hadn't left me, but instead had become stronger. I still felt watched and with the silence surrounding us, it was really creepy.

It was Logan then, who motioned us to stop. I looked questioningly at him but he just shrugged and muttered something, which sounded dimly like we're not alone. Well, it caused me to look around again, but I could find nothing but fog, not even the usual sight of the Academy's park at night -- which didn't have to mean there was nothing out there.

I had just human night vision after all, but then I too, saw what he had heard; there was Zero's twin, appearing out of the fog like he was ghost. I shivered; I felt suddenly very cold, which had nothing to do with the night air around me.

"What?" Zero exclaimed and froze but took automatically a step in front of me, like shielding me from his evil twin. "Ichiru?!" His voice turned from sounding surprised into an angry growl and I could just stare at both of them. I stood far enough away from Zero to see both of them but not much more. I shivered again, seeing as they were looking so alike yet they were so different on the inside.

Zero was gruff on the outside but I knew that he cared, but Ichiru? There was nothing but hate and poison in his gaze. Zero's brother was really creeping me out, worse than any vampire I had ever seen so far.

"Did you miss me brother-heart?" Ichiru taunted, smirking slightly and took a step closer to Zero.

Zero did reply only with another growl and he would've attacked him, if Logan hadn't stopped him with touch of his hand, muttering something like 'he's not worth it' into his ears. After this, Logan gave Ichiru a curious glance and took a step closer to him, stepping between Zero and Ichiru.

"Strange, you look like his twin, but you don't smell like it." He said in a calm observing voice. It was clear it was a warning of sorts, a warning made to rile his opponent up.

"Of course, that's because we're different species now." Ichiru sneered with a poisonous glance at this twin brother, who had all hands full to keep himself from attacking. I could see how Zero struggled to keep himself in check, but his eyes, which were displaying traces of red, gave the extend of his anger away.

"Nah, that's not what I meant, bub."

"Who are you, and what are you calling me? Bub?" Ichiru's glance turned even colder, if that was even possible. It was clear that he felt affronted by Logan's words.

"Me?" Logan raised his right eyebrow and smiled broadly, displaying false innocence and too many teeth, but I noticed the tone of amusement in his voice. Logan was toying with Ichiru and was enjoying it -- greatly.

"Yeah, you."

"Leave." Zero spoke up again, his voice dripping with menace barely under control, that much that I took one of his hands in mine, trying to calm him down. It worked, barely; I could still feel him trembling ever so slightly. No, Logan was right, it wouldn't do any good for Zero to lose his cool -- that's what Ichiru wanted after all.

"Ah, I'm sorry but I can't." Ichiru smiled sweetly at his twin at this. Well, it reminded me of a snake's smile, poisoned honey.

"You're not that good; against us all." Zero replied with raised brows, motioning at us all, clearly not believing what he just heard.

"He's right," Logan agreed, "you're no match for us bub." Yeah, he did it again, calling him bub and making Ichiru even madder. It was pure tactic, distracting the enemy by making him mad -- and it seemed to work nicely, considering the way Ichiru reacted every time.

"Oh, I think you're right. Alone I'm no match for you -- but I'm not alone." Ichiru nodded and then made a strange motion -- and we were surrounded. There were lots of men; no they were vampires, I thought, because of the strange feeling I got from them. A feeling, which reminded me strangely of Level E's -- but that couldn't be? What sane man, vampire would use them like that? It was complete madness, as they couldn't be controlled.

I had been right they were vampires, because I could see gleaming red eyes now. Worse, I think Zero knew their leader after the way he knitted his brows and his glare turned far beyond his icy glare, he'd just given his twin; if his normal glare was ice, this was artic cold. "Colder even than the ice, Aido controlled." I thought.

"Ichio," Zero mumbled then, sounding like it hurt to even speak this name. Um, wasn't that Ichijo-senpai's uncle? Well, if he was, he certainly didn't look like family -- not much. I could hardly believe that this scary vampire was related to kind Ichijo-senpai, to Takuma-senpai then. No, the mad, no, evil gleam in those eyes made me cringe inside with dread. Had I just thought that Ichiru was scarier than any vampire -- well, I guess I had been proved wrong by this vampiric sociopath.

"That's Ichijo-sama to you." Ichiru corrected in an icy tone -- and then all hell broke loose, because they decided to use this moment of confusion to attack. I remember dimly that I got Artemis Rod out just in time to defend myself, but I knew I was hardly a match for those vampires and the only reason I had a chance at all was because of the staff in my hands.

Worse, Zero knew it too and gave me lots worried looks while he was locked in a sword fight with Ichiru when he shouldn't be distracted. Thankfully he seemed to do okay in his fight with Ichiru, but he kept shooting at random vampires, who got too close to me.

Well, I felt rather useless with all the people around me, even if I stood my ground against one or the other vampire too. I watched Ororo, eh, Storm as she told me before, rise into the sky. Wow! I didn't know she could fly. Yeah, that was really awesome -- but what came then was even more so, course the winds were picking up faster, turning into a storm, which took the last autumn leaves from the trees around us and drove the vampires away from us for a short moment until they got used to it.

So, you can image what a rush it was around me with thunder in the air and lighting striking at random vampires, and Logan, I guess he was moving as fast as any of the vampires and then there were daggers popping out of his knuckles and the two vampires to his sides were dust. It caused a short surprised look from the others, which told me that other than Logan, they hadn't known about vampires -- until now. It was a little hard to argue against hard facts; normal people simply didn't turn into dust besides we didn't have time to muse about it.

Well, I had my hands full defending Rogue and myself, knowing that we two were the most vulnerable of us and myself. Even her boyfriend, sort of, this Bobby was better, using ice to freeze the approaching vampires. I gasped, seeing that he was covered in ice, making it hard for the vampires to bite him.

Well, Rogue was better than I in this too, in fighting, seeing as she had only her bare hands to fight with. Her movements were graceful, skilled and much faster than I had expected them to be, martial arts; it had to be. Logan, I remembered, he had been the one, who had her taught this. Well, we were both slow compared to Logan or Kurt, who were both a lot faster than us. Well, Kurt, he was moving around with so much grace and agility that it was difficult keeping track on him.

It was hard to follow his movements, but there was more to it, because he disappeared suddenly with a loud bang from my sight. It was a rather dull sound. "Urgh," I muttered because of the smell of it. It smelled strongly like sulphur and then everything went black around me. "_What happened? Where am I?" _I thought confused before I could see again. "_Wha, wait -- I had been over there, hadn't I?"_

"What?" I said aloud, feeling dizzy for the second time during this day.

"Here you are Fräulein Yuki." I heard Kurt say a moment later.

"You brought me here, didn't you?" I murmured in wonder, realizing what he must have done.

"Yes, I did." He replied and pointed to the place where I had just been; there were several vampires fighting with Logan now. I sighed in relief; that had been a close call.

"Thanks. Um, Kurt." I almost whispered, but didn't get to say more because we were interrupted by a scream from the other side. I know, I turned around right in time to watch one of the vampires getting close to Rogue; close enough to bite her.

I could do nothing, only watch in horror, because Rogue then screamed, they both froze and then -- she fell, fell like a leaf would from a tree in autumn while that vampire simply remained unmoving; his eyes were glassy from touching her. Worse, I thought I had seen blood there, had he bitten Rogue? It happened too fast, and then, then the vampire was no more, because Logan screamed in rage and rushed to them, tearing him apart with his claws.

I think I'll never forget that feral look of his eyes then; he looked so very like the mad level Es I've seen and still -- it was different. Maybe it was, because he wasn't mad, but only deadly like any other predator. Yes, that's what he was, I realized and swallowed uneasily, just like Zero and the whole Night Class; it was there just beneath the surface, the predatory instincts. I looked up then, because it was too quiet; the fighting had stopped around us. I noticed there were only Ichijo-sama, Ichiru and one or two of Ichijo-sama's vampires left.

Well, anybody froze but Ichijo-sama -- he kept getting closer to Rogue, but kept his gaze on Logan, silently challenging him into doing anything. I shivered with dread. What was going to happen? That old vampire was really creepy, worse; I didn't know what he might be capable of doing. "Why wasn't Logan doing anything?" I wondered, seeing his still figure.

Then Ichijo-sama had reached her and knelt down, touching her -- nothing happened. The old vampire smiled instead, which gave me the chills. Was Rogue still alive? She had to be, I hoped it with all my heart, for her friends.

"You can do nothing for her, wolf." He said smoothly.

"She'll be fine, vampire." Logan spat in return, glaring at the old vampire in front of him but he was still immobile.

"Oh, I'm sure." He chuckled in return, making Logan's claws pop out again. "You think that helps against me?" His voice had turned to a devilish purr, smooth as silk and suddenly Logan looked in horror at the old vampire in front of him.

"What are you doing?" He managed out barely, but it was only a whisper. Logan didn't move, couldn't move I noticed. He tried but his legs wouldn't bulge. "Was this Ichijo-sama's doing?" I thought in horror, it felt like tunnel vision to me, as I stared at Rogue, Logan and Ichijo-sama. Everything else was blurred to me, seeming unimportant right now.

"No, but this certainly will." I heard a voice from behind, Storm; I hadn't seen her before because she had been hovering in the sky, just beyond my vision. Ger voice was as cold as the gush of winter wind, she sent towards the old vampire in the centre.

"I don't need your help, Ro." Logan grumbled, sounding annoyed yet seeming to approve of her action towards Ichijo-sama but I could see that he still couldn't move even he got back some command over his voice.

"I know." She smiled in return and the cold got worse; it got colder by any passing moment. It made me shiver and pull my jacked closer to me, but I wasn't even in the centre of the cold she'd called. I stood around ten metres or so away from them -- and I was very glad about it.

Then everything turned upside down, meaning all hell broke loose because Ichijo-sama was striking at Logan with something, invisible, strangling him. Well, his concentration was broken a moment later, when Storm sent lightning down at Ichijo-sama.

Only, it didn't last long, because he seemed to use some strange of shield to defend himself against the bolts of lightning, Storm kept throwing at him. I watched him change his focus from Logan to Storm, which was a mistake, because Logan used that moment to break from Ichijo-sama's hold on him.

Ichijo-sama noticed this and tried to get Logan back under control, but it wasn't much use against Logan's strength of will. Logan fought against Ichijo-sama's hold and he was gaining strength. Step by step he was getting back the control over his body and took a step forward, then another, slowly but steady.

He kept getting closer to him, slowly, but unstoppable, until he could finally strike him with his claws, wounding the old vampire enormously. It seemed strange to me that Ichijo-sama didn't react in time to move away, no, something wasn't right. It looked like he had done that on purpose, letting Logan getting this close to him.

Well, I got my answer a moment later, because Logan didn't got a second strike because Ichijo-sama moved surprisingly fast for being wounded like that -- but then I doubt Logan's claws held any special anti-vampire spells to prevent him from using his vampire healing powers. I think Logan tried to hit the old vampire a second time, but he did only scratch him, ruining his clothes a little more. I think I heard a metallic noise too, like something had broken.

I guess my mind was so focused on their fight, that I didn't noticed Ichiru sneaking up to me because I could barely defend myself against him then. Thankfully Zero was in time to push me out of his brother's way and then they were gone.

What happened? One moment it looked like Ichijo-sama was winning against Logan and then there had been that plink and they were gone.

"Yuki, are you okay?" Zero asked, still holding me tightly, like I could fall anytime again.

"Um, yes, I am. Thank you". I murmured.

"He has hurt you." He said, sounding anguished and brushed against my left cheek with a soft cloth -- a handkerchief? Since when does he own such things?

"Um, Zero it's nothing." I objected, feeling my cheek, which felt a little sore from my fall but at the same time tingly from his touch. "It's only dirt from when I've fallen down, Z-Zero."

He had pulled me into a hug. "Zero…." He held me tight for another moment before finally releasing me.

"Thank God." He murmured.

I looked around, seeing that we were truly alone, and sighed in relief. It looked like we had won win the fight for the time being, but some things, were yet different, for one, Rogue was still unconscious and Logan kept checking her life-signs, murmuring unintelligible things under his breath, which sounded suspiciously like curses; not, that I couldn't understand this under after all what happened.

"How is she?" I asked into a rather disturbing quiet.

"Alive." Logan grunted and took her into his arms. "She's breathing, but that's all what's normal."

"Logan?" Storm asked in a worried tone.

"Yeah?"

"You're touching her," She replied, "and nothing's happening."

"Yeah, you're right." He agreed then turned his attention back to me. "Her powers had returned, right?"

I just nodded. Well, I found this as confusing as they did, and I had much less knowledge about how mutant powers worked then them -- naturally.

"We should go…" I heard Storm again, but I lost my focus on it quickly because Zero suddenly slumped down. I rushed to him and saw with horror that there was blood on his shirt, lots of blood. There was a long gash on his chest, which didn't seem to heal. "What happened?" I whispered to him, knowing that he should normally heal a lot faster. Why hadn't I realized this sooner, when he had hugged me?

"Ichiru." He answered in a hoarse voice, barely noticeable. "Backstabber."

"You need blood," I whispered, realizing now that there could be only one reason why he wasn't healing properly. Ichiru's blade must have an anti-vampire charm on it and blood was now the only thing to help him heal this kind of wound. I remembered Yagari-sensei words well enough about those kinds of wounds -- and this looked really nasty.

"No!" He argued but was short cut by a snort from behind. I looked up to find that Logan kneeling beside us.

"Do me a favour bub," Logan replied in a slightly annoyed voice, thus interrupting us.

"Eh?" Zero stared at him, confused.

"Stop fighting it." He explained then. "You gotta embrace that beast to control it. Yeah, gotta embrace it bub."

"How do you know?" Zero replied with wide eyes, clearly surprised by these words. I guess he'd thought his secret was hidden to anyone else but us.

"Bah, I can smell it." Logan-sama snorted. "You're one of them." He explained, meaning vampires. He shrugged and paused then, like thinking about his next move. "And now, do me a favour and shut up."

"Wha?" Zero tried to object once again but was stopped by Logan's wrist, he held directly in front of his lips.

"Drink already. I don't have all day." What? Logan was offering him his blood. I hadn't expected this, remembering the way he had spoken about Night Class. I had expected him to despise them, just like the hunters did. Seemed I was wrong in this, too.

"Zero." I pleaded, knowing that he needed this, even if he seemed to think otherwise. Well, he continued fighting his instincts until Logan tricked him, nicking his wrist with one of his claws.

I sighed in relief, when he finally began to drink, thinking that we got the most complicated things behind us, well but poor Rogue. I sighed and hoped she would be okay somehow.

It was then that I noticed the looks, the others were giving us, Storm, Kurt and Bobby were staring at us. They were looking surprised but thankfully not too shocked, so I stood up and giving them another thoughtful look. "Yes, it's true." I said simply.

"He's really a …" Kurt replied but trailed out, grapping the cross around his neck. I guess he must be catholic or something -- and seemed to believe in vampires, too, considering his reaction right now.

"Vampire, yes." I chuckled and shook my head, seeing Kurt's alarmed expression. "I'm sorry but that won't work. You can forget almost all that crap from legend."

"Really?" He replied with wide unbelieving eyes, almost as if he had had other experience with vampires considering crosses, holy water and all that stuff.

"Yeah, really. Zero might be a vampire but he's certainly not undead and the sun doesn't burns him to crisp." I explained, seeing the mixed expression of Kurt, Storm and Bobby. They looked like they did accept what I had just said, but there was something strange in Storm's eyes, like a shadow of something, not so unlike like a clouded sky at November, a greyish blue.

Well, Bobby looked kind of flabbergasted. He looked like he had just seen a ghost, something, which shouldn't exist, as far he was concerned, but couldn't deny its existence at the same time. I think he wanted to say something but didn't after a look at the still unconscious Rogue. So, instead he just cradled her in his arms.

"Why's she not waking?" He muttered to himself but didn't sound like he really expected an answer from us. "She's breathing and there's a pulse too, but…"

"He's done something to her." Logan muttered in response, knitting his knuckles and took Rogue back into his arms, now that Zero had taken his fill of blood he needed to heel. Logan looked angry but I noted a look of helplessness in his eyes -- because he couldn't do anything for her. It must be disturbing to feel this way for a man like Logan, helpless. I watched him kneeing down beside Rogue and sniffing at her, why, I didn't know.

I looked back to Zero, who now looked a whole lot better to my eyes but I noted how embarrassed he was about this whole incident. Okay, he looked really cute that way too, being this flustered and it made me smile after all.

Things seemed to look much better all of a sudden, but it didn't last long, sadly.

A moment later I shivered because the air seemed to get menacing cold and looked at Storm, but her eyes were her normal colour, so she wasn't using her powers. Strange, that made it worse, cause that meant it wasn't anything physical but … and death aura? I jerked around towards the direction where it seemed to come from.

"What?" I muttered in surprise. I thought he had decided to return to Moon Dorm, then why was he here now? And so sudden too, like appearing out of nowhere, all right, maybe not out of nowhere, as I had been preoccupied with worrying about Zero and Rogue.

No, there he was, Kaname, standing directly in front of me, and he wasn't alone. I could out make Ichijo, Shiki, Aido, Kain and Seiren standing behind him. "Why?" I asked myself again, "and why now?" We could've used them a few moments ago, not that I hadn't faith in Rogue's friends, but if they had been earlier here we could've preventing her being bitten.

Well, I had been so surprised that I only recognized the dark look on his face, he felt cold. Kaname was glaring at no one else but Logan, who returned to talking quietly with Zero -- probably about the same issue as before.

There was something in Kaname's expression what I could only describe as -- jealousy?

"Oh, the blood," I thought, remembering how he would probably see this, that Logan had given Zero his blood so he could heal. Giving blood was something very intimate to vampires, at least that was the picture I've been getting about this issue.

"Stop," I intervened, again, internally sighing as this was the second time I faced him like this today. "Zero had been hurt and needed it to heal." I explained it to him, which worked thankfully fast. Just at the moment that I said that Zero had been hurt, his expression changed into one of worry instead, I noticed.

"How?" He asked in return, looking straight at Zero, seemingly checking him for any remaining wounds.

"Ichiru." Zero answered for me. "Stabbed me in the back when I pushed Yuki out of his way."

"He was here? You're all right Yuki?" Kaname replied with raised brows, but I could see his hands itching, like he wanted to pull Zero into a hug but thought better of it because he wasn't alone with him.

"Yes, and yes, Yuki is fine." Zero answered, still sounding a bit tired to me.

"No," I heard Ichijo murmuring in response, his tone sounding like a mixture of surprise, dread and déjà vu? It sounded like had feared this but had hoped it might not be true against all odds. Had he sensed his grandfather nearby? If so, it made me wonder even more, why they had arrived so late.

"What did he want here?" He managed to ask after a moment of painful silence.

"Nothing good it seems." Logan answered and pointed to still unconscious Rogue in his arms.

"What happened to her?" I heard Aido's anguished voice then, he had noticed the unconscious form of Rogue in Logan's arms.

He had walked up close to her, almost touched her but stopped right in time, seeing the dark look on Logan's face.

"She was bitten." Logan grumbled. "By one of you."

"Let me see," Kaname replied then paused for moment seeing Logan's dark look. "Please, it's important." I could barely understand what he was saying to Logan because his voice was so quiet. Kaname seemed to check Rogue somehow, the way he gave her a long serious look, then touched her briefly all the time the frown deepened by the any passing moment.

"Aido, what do you think of this?" He nodded towards Rogue.

"She's rejecting the change," Aido gasped after he took another look at Rogue but Kaname nodded only.

"What? You're sure?" Zero interjected, disbelief clearly in his voice. "It's impossible, isn't it?"

"Yes and no." Kaname replied, pointing towards Rogue. "Technically, this shouldn't been possible at all. Ichio is only a noble."

"So, you're not sure at all what this is, is it that?" Zero replied, making the other vampires around Kaname gasp with surprise for this bluntness, but the calmed down quickly after a look from Kaname.

"She cannot leave Cross Academy." Kaname concluded, speaking out what I feared after all I just had heard. It was logical in a way, since it was caused by a vampire so it could probably only cured by another vampire, but I trusted Kaname to know what to do to help Rogue.

"What??" Logan practically yelled at him, ignoring the death aura of the residual pureblood. Logan didn't seem like someone to fear anything I mused, after all I had seen of him in this short time. I could see that Bobby wanted to object too but he was quieted by Storm and Kurt at his side.

"Kaname-sama is right, we need to take her back and get her treated." Ichijo added, trying to support Kaname's argument to Rogue's friends, who were obvious to what was happening around them. Well, I wasn't sure myself, but I hoped they would see reason because Kaname's voice made me fear for poor Rogue -- what ever this was, what happened to her.

"Logan," I pleaded. "Please. They're right. We've got to take her back." I took another look at her pale face. "And fast." I added, seeing her look so vulnerable, so fragile.

So, thankfully Logan gruntingly agreed and we went back to the Academy, to Moon Dorms especially. We were much faster then before and I some trouble keeping up with them. Well, I didn't object it was necessary to get back fast.

We used one of the empty guest rooms to lie her down, to keep her warm for now. Zero and I went up there watching her sleep with Logan guarding her.

"Like she's his daughter," I thought while I watched him sitting there, beside her bed, eyes clouded and far away. He seemed to be frozen, so quiet and motionless he sat there.

"She'll be okay for now." Zero muttered next to me.

"What?"

"It takes days for this to complete, and -- Aido-senpai, said we still have time." He had paused before speaking out Aido's name, as if he wasn't really comfortable that we would need his help. "Really, I've never thought that he has a side like that." He meant Aido being educated in using spells and things like that, and not just being playboy Idol-senpai.

"Well, he cannot be all that shallow." I chuckled in response. "I guess there's more to everyone here."

"Maybe." Zero grumbled, like usual.

I gave him a smile. Yes, it felt almost like normal again -- beside all the trouble we're facing now.

We left Logan alone with Rogue to rejoin the others because we really needed to make plans, Rogue might be stable now -- which I wasn't completely sure about, but we really need to come up with a solution. The others, meaning Kaname, Ichijo, Aido, Kain and Kurt, Storm and Bobby were in the main hall, discussing.

"Why haven't we noticed him earlier?" I heard Kaname mutter to Ichijo but the vice-president seemed to be as clueless as Kaname.

"I don't know Kaname-sama." He replied. "It had been just a few minutes ago that I felt him here, Ichio." Ichijo seemed to find the old vampire as creepy as I because I could see him blanch every time his grandfather's name came up.

"Maybe it's because of this." Kain held a bracelet of sorts in his hand; no it was more a necklace. It looked like something some men wore around their necks but the pendant looked like nothing I had ever seen. It gleamed in an unholy red colour under the dim light here, a red circle with a single black rose at its bottom.

"It's a blood-charm!" Aido piped in. His expression showed a mix of both excitement and dread, strange. Then he scratched his head and frowned. "I didn't knew that Ichio was capable of such. He might be one of the oldest nobles I've ever known of but he's just that, a noble." He then took the pendant from his cousin hands, inspecting it closer.

"This incredible, maybe he had help -- no, it feels like him, but I don't understand it." He sounded frustrated now, and I couldn't help staring at him, like I had never seen him before. He sounded so different than usual, so serious. I hadn't known that Aido was interested in things like this, charms and such - magic.

"No, he shouldn't be able to do them either." Kaname agreed sounding now truly worried.

"What's it?" I asked, "A blood-charm?" It tasted strange on my lips, like something dreadful and dark, which it probable was.

"It's used to mask ones aura and smell." Kaname explained quietly. "Ones, like this have been outlawed for centuries."

"So, that's the reason you guys haven't been here earlier," I concluded, feeling relieved that it hadn't been by any other reason. "You haven't known that they were here."

"Exactly."

"Outlawed? So, that means if it can be linked back to Ichio, it would get him into trouble?" Zero asked with a hopeful look towards the pendant.

"Normally yes, but problem is, Ichio's holding a strong position in the Council." Kaname shook his head but his voice sounded like he wished the opposite were true.

"Politics." Zero muttered in return.

"Yes, politics." Kaname agreed with little smile but Zero looked flushed suddenly. Politics were a safe topic, weren't it, but Zero reacted as if Kaname would've said something -- obscene?

"So, what do we do than?" I asked instead, trying to change the topic to something helpful -- and talking about politics certainly wasn't helpful right now.

"We need to research this curse." That was Aido, answering my question.

"So, it's a curse?" I wondered.

"Yeah, nothing else makes sense, doesn't it, Kaname-sama?"

"Yes, of course. A curse, it makes sense." Kaname nodded and then paused for moment, his gaze travelling from Aido to Zero and he smiled a little crooked smile.

"You could need help."

"Hmm, yes." Aido agreed hesitatingly.

"Zero, you know quite a lot about hunter charms, don't you?"

"Yeah, what?" Zero replied then stared at the pureblood with wide eyes. "Oh, no." He grumbled and I could see that Aido wasn't too pleased about this development but he kept quite because of Kaname-sama.

"Please, for her?" I pleaded. "I'll come too, to help you with the paper work."

"Um, okay." He muttered. "But you don't know anything about the old language."

"Eh, but I can sort out paper and do other stuff, Zero." I objected. "I know you, you'll forget eating and sleep if working on something." I paused for effect. "And then you'll be useless."

"Oh, okay." He agreed finally but I could see the tint of red on his cheek. Oh, I loved to do this, to tease him like this.

"Ehem, I might be of help too." Kurt interjected. "I might not know much about these things but I do know research."

"All right, you can join them." Kaname agreed to let Kurt join Aido and Zero in their research -- and he seemed to be very pleased about it too.

"What about us?" Storm asked pointing at herself and Bobby. "I have some knowledge of history and old languages too and Bobby surely wants to help too."

"You can help Ichijo in looking up information on the pedant." Kaname replied calmly.

"Oh, that would be fine," Ichijo replied with a smile and motioned them to follow him. "Let's start right now." He was back to his bouncy happy self I noticed. Storm and Bobby were only staring at him, remaining on their placed. I had to fight a chuckle at the sight.

"You're coming?" Ichijo called again when he noticed that they weren't following him, he paused, giving them a closer look. "Any of you tired?" He asked quietly, his eyes full of compassion.

"No, I guess it's okay for now." Storm replied then glanced at Bobby at her side. "Bobby?"

"Oh, I'll …com…" Bobby answered but yawned in the middle of his sentence. "Oh, I guess this means, I am tired." He looked down.

"I'll show you your room then." Ichijo replied and left with them. "We start research tomorrow, it'll be fine."

Well, that meant it was only us three here, as Aido and Kain had left with Ichijo too.

"Yuki-chan, you must be quite tired too." It wasn't a question but a statement because it was quite obvious by now. I had yawned several times since we had arrived here and I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep myself up. I looked at my watch, noticing that it was far beyond our usual time when doing patrol duty.

"Kuran's right. Let's call it a day." Zero said and only managed barely not to yawn, too.

"Oh, all right. Zero, Kaname." I said then stopped. "What?" I glanced from Zero to Kaname and back, noticing the intense look they were giving each other.

"Oh, all right," I muttered and then noticing that Zero didn't seem to be aware of me, so I pushed him forward.

"I can go home alone." I added and ran out of the room and almost went into a run towards Sun Dorm. I couldn't help but wonder if he would notice that I'm gone and follow me -- or not.

At first I nothing happened, for a rather long while, then I heard familiar steps behind me.

"Yuki!"

"Yes?" I asked innocently.

"You've done that on purpose, haven't you?"

"Hmm, maybe." I muttered.

"Yuuki!!" He growled in return which made me smile; smile because I had my Zero back.

Thankfully we reached both our Dorms without any interruptions and I was finally able to go to bed, which felt like heaven after all what happened. Well, one should think I would've fallen asleep as soon as I was in bed but I couldn't sleep at first. Thoughts, again, I couldn't help wonder about Cross Academy and my life in general.

It had felt lately much like this was Twilight Zone and not Cross Academy, with people appearing and disappearing out of nowhere.

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_Thanks for reading. Feel free to review.  
_

_Thanks to you, The Invisible Fan for your comment about the X-Men not leaving too soon,  
because you gave me some ideas there. :D_

_-_

_About Aido knowing about vampire curses and such, well, I couldn't help myself but I've borrowed the idea from Blackened-Wing. It sounds so reasonable. Well, someone has to know about such things and I chose Aido because of other things too. Wanted to have him to play important role for saving Rogue._

_-  
Miarath_


	11. X Change Part One

Change of Heart - Chapter Twelve

For Disclaimer see Chapter One.

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**X-Change - Part One**

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Well, I couldn't start helping Rogue getting better as soon as possible, but yet, I overslept next morning. So, yeah, best laid plans, as usual, but I hadn't exactly slept well that night. I had all sorts of dreams, some normal but most had been disturbing in one way or another. Some of them made me flush with embarrassment, but I had to have that one dream again, the one which haunts so many of my nights -- only it had been twisted into something new.

I guess I really was too deep asleep, for anybody to wake me. I was so tired and probably really needed it, but I was still disappointed about it.

Sure, I should've expected this after going to bed late and dreaming things like that too, things like my old nightmare. The dream had started out like always, with snow and blood and then, there was he, that vampire. So far the usual -- only this time he looked disturbingly familiar. He had looked so very like Kaname, almost, but for the longer curly hair and that creepy glint in his eyes that woke me up screaming, because I thought it was him. I wondered that I hadn't woken Yori this morning, screaming like I had -- well, she might have been already in class then, late as it had been. I shivered from the dread of it, even now as I recalled the dream.

I left my bed only to get the next shock, seeing as it was already very late; too late for class but thankfully enough time for my prefect duty and class change. Worse, it was rather cold outside, so I had to return to my room, changing into my winter clothes.

It had gotten icy outside, giving the lawn and trees a haunted look. Even now there was glazed frost on the threes and ice-flowers on the windowpane, which made it look like it was already in the midst of winter. I shook my head; it was really early in the year for frost like this and I felt rather cold, even with my winter clothes on. Well, maybe I hadn't paid attention to the weather lately, and it hadn't been all too warm the last few days too.

So, I was quite in a hurry because of this but I needed to get there in time, to the Moon Dorm gate, where probably lots of fan-girls were already waiting for their idols to appear.

Thankfully, it was early enough that I didn't have to hurry too much, enough time to get there in time, back to keeping crazy fan-girls and the occasional fan-boy in check. I sighed, school had started again, because father couldn't prolong the break any longer than this or he would arouse suspicion, if he hadn't already. I had expected this, but it felt still weird.

It was a strange feeling, going back to normal school life after all what happened, a feeling like waking from a dream -- only I knew it wasn't one. It was dreadfully real.

Well, I never reached Moon Dorm that day; Yagari-sensei stopped me, informing me that Zero and I were free of prefect duty for today. Seemed, like Zero had already informed him and the headmaster about yesterday's events and that we needed a cure for our friend Rogue, as fast as possible.

"You'll find Zero-kun at the library." He said with a strange smile. "He said that, he'd be waiting for Aido-kun too." Oh, Yagari-sensei found this funny; well, it was in a certain way. It was well known that Zero and Aido didn't get along well, which was, of course, an understatement.

"I know." I returned with a similar smile. Oh, this was going to be fun, seeing these two working together, or it would've been, if the situation weren't that serious. I felt a little ashamed to find this amusing at a time like this. "No, Yuki, you've got to be strong," I thought to myself.

"What about prefect duty?" I asked. "If both I and Zero are off for today, who…."

"Oh, that, that would be my job tonight." He grinned broadly, looking much like a little boy in toyshop to me, which was a rather disturbing image on a man with his looks, eye-patch, trench coat, riffle and all. Looks like Yagari-sensei was always armed, not surprising.

"Oh." I suppressed a giggle, imagining their faces at the sight of the older hunter instead of Zero and I. "Poor fan-girls." I muttered under my breath, not knowing if I should feel pity for them or for the master hunter in front of me. They could be really a hand full, some day more, some day less.

"Yes, indeed, oh." He nodded. "You should go now."

"Um, Yagari-sensei, won't they get suspicious, with me and Zero not there, the other hunters, I mean." I added, remembering how they've been talking about Zero before.

"Yes, you're right." He nodded turning serious but tousled my hair in the end, smiling again. "Don't worry Yuki-chan, your father, the headmaster knows how to handle them." He sounded so very so very sure about this, that it made me actually wonder what father had planned to tell them. "Have to remember to ask him about that later." I thought.

"I hope so."

"Now, you go." He ordered. "I can't let those fan-girls wait, now can I?"

"No, you're can't."

I thought I heard him chuckle so I nodded again and did what he said. I broke into a slight jog to get there as fast as I could. I really wanted to do something to make Rogue better; from what I heard from the others, this might as well kill her. So, I entered the main building, which was yet empty, as Day Class has ended and Night Class hadn't started yet. I sighed, realizing that it also meant that Zero and I would be alone until Aido joined us. Hmm, Aido, I hoped he would be able to find something to undo this, this curse; he had to. Well, at least Kaname-senpai seemed to think so and that had to count for something.

I had almost reached the library, when I saw a familiar face in front of me, Logan. Had I something misunderstood last night? I thought it would be just us three, me, Zero and Aido, working on how to remove that curse.

"Logan-san? What are you doing her?" I asked a little confused, since I had thought he would continue watching her sleep, as he had insisted last night. "I hope nobody has seen you." I muttered under my breath.

"Helping you, what else." He snorted then paused. "Don't worry, nobody has seen me." He grinned, because he had noticed my worried look. Well, I didn't doubt him in this, because he seemed to be a rather sneaky person; the way he was moving and all.

"What about Rogue?"

"Don't worry, Yuki-chan, she's not alone. Ro took my watch." He explained while he accompanied me to the library. Zero was already there, sitting in front of lots of books; he had piled up on the table.

"Hi," I greeted him, feeling a little awkward after last night. Thankfully, he didn't say anything about yesterday but I noticed him blushing slightly then, oh, he must've thought of last night too. Zero then nodded for me to sit down next to him, which I did. I looked back to Logan, wondering if he wanted to sit down too, but he shrugged only, leaning against the wall on the other side, just like saying he was fine staying where he was. Well, this part of the library wasn't that big and it was a rather secluded place too -- exactly what we needed.

I took another look at all the books on the table, which were a lot, actually far more than I had expected on the topic we're needing information for. I hadn't seen most of these books before -- and couldn't read them either, noticing the foreign language they were written in.

I frowned, how should we get through all this stuff? Worse, I felt a little awkward sitting this close to Zero, too. I mean I had acted rather foolish last night, hadn't I? Acting like that, pushing him practically direct into Kaname's arms. What had I thought last night? Obviously I hadn't been thinking at all, but I hadn't been able to take it any longer then; I had just wanted to see both of them happy. It didn't seem to matter what happened, I still loved them both. I was a hopeless case, wasn't I?

Well, at least Zero looked now calm and refreshed, like he had slept well. I guess he hadn't had to deal with nightmares like me. I frowned, seeing how relaxed he sat next to me. His eyes, they were a beautiful soft lavender now and not his usual stormy silver. No, it wasn't only his eyes, which looked so good; it was everything about him, hair, skin, lips, I thought -- and blushed, realizing that I'd been staring at him like one of those silly fan-girls from Day Class. Well, of course, I was a day class girl too.

"Yuki?"

"Yes?"

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Um, nothing," I answered, "nothing but the obvious." I felt confused, because I got the feeling that something was different about him, something subtle. I couldn't figure out what exactly, but I was too afraid to ask. After all, it was very unlikely that I'd get an answer from him anyway.

"Have you found anything yet?"

"Maybe," he answered, still sounding calm and composed, like his usual self. He pointed to the pile of books on the table. "We've got to wait for Aido. He knows more about things like that then me." He sounded slightly uneasy, being forced to work with Aido, knowing how much he disliked Idol-senpai for his playboy behaviour to those day class girls.

"I guess you're right. Where all these from?" I pointed at the books. "They are more than I've expected to see here."

"It's not much, Yuki. I'm glad master had these for me." He pointed to few very big ancient looking books, right in front of him. They were really looking old, so old that I was afraid that they would fall apart if I touched them, so just gave them a closer overlook.

"They're all Yagari-sensei's books? They have to be hundreds of years old!"

"Well I'm glad I we have these and, no, they're not all master's. These are from the headmaster's private library," He pointed to two books in front of me, then snorted with a hint of disgust. "The remaining books are from Night Class' library." It was clear that he had mixed feelings about the latter; I guess it's because he felt indebted to Night Class because of these -- and didn't like at all.

"Zero, it's not like this is exactly normal school topic." I smiled softly, feeling partially amused about his unease and happy on the other hand, that he was taking this so well.

"Yeah, right." He answered, not looking any happier about it. "Let's get started."

So, we started our search, checking out the books we had available -- or Zero did that, only asking me for Logan's or my opinion from time to time. Interesting, we found out that Logan could actually read some of the books. Sadly, we were not very successful so far, but we managed to exclude some of the books, which were definitely not containing the answer to our problem.

"You're sure it's a blasted curse," Logan said into the silence, "and not poison?"

"Yes, pretty sure." Zero answered, seeing the sceptical look on Logan's face now, then looking the other way, towards the door, I noticed, as if looking out for something. What?

"Kiryu-kun is right. Poison would have left her in a lot more unstable state than this did." It was Aido. "How long had he been standing there?" I wondered; I hadn't seen him coming because all my attention had been at the books in front of me and on Zero next to me. Well, neither Zero nor Logan seemed to be surprised.

"And she was stable, when you left, wasn't she?"

"Yeah, she was." Logan gruntingly acknowledged. "Looked fine, only unconscious -- almost"

"Logan-san?" Aido gave him a searching look, like he wanted to ask him why he was here in the first place. "You've got something to tell us?"

"Yeah, guess I do. Have been waitin' for you. Figured I'd share this with all of you." He nodded. "About Marie."

"Yes?" Aido queried and took up pen and paper, getting ready for whatever this was, what Logan wanted to tell us.

"It's the mark on her neck, right below her blouse's collar."

"What's about it? Has it changed?" Aido queried and he couldn't hide an excited gleam in his blue eyes, like a sparkle of ice. Of course, he was right everything on information was most important for us, but it made him look so much younger. Right now, he looked so very much like an exited child that I thought he would be bouncing up and down if he'd got anymore exited.

"It has changed, looks like a rose now, a battered rose -- badly damaged." Logan fiddled with his dog tags and then frowned again. "It's blood red, just like that pedant you people found."

"Exact the same shade?" Aido raised a brow, making hastily notes of what Logan just said and went to the table, looking for something among the books there. "You said it looks like a rose now, frayed rose? Where have you seen it?" He swallowed taking a deep breath. "I mean which direction points it to?" He opened one of the books but closed it with a snort and took up another one, only to put it back too. I watched him doing this with few more books until he finally stayed with one.

"Yeah, a damned rose on the backside of her neck. Looks like it's trying to get to those bite marks." Logan grumbled. "Hope you can use this, cause it doesn't sound any good to me."

"Yes, you're right." Aido sighed; he had already found what he had been looking for. "Good that I now know what we're dealing with, but bad because it's an ancient curse and too strong to undo for me alone."

"Worse, this is incomplete, there's missing a part, Aido-senpai." Zero put in, pointing at a part of the writing, in Aido's book, which was obviously incomplete. It looked like a whole paragraph was missing.

"Look, there, that sentence isn't finished." He frowned. "And this one isn't too. It's like someone had made this unreadable on purpose."

"Yeah, I know, but it's the best we have." Aido agreed, but it was obvious to me that found this as frustrating as Zero did. "Someone messed with this," He grumbled angrily. "This is one of Kaname-sama's books."

"What about the part you can read? You said you're not strong enough?" Logan interrupted and ignoring Aido's anger about the damaged book. "Then who's strong enough?"

"I don't know." He muttered in defeat. "I believe I could perform the ritual just fine but …"

"Yeah, I know. You're not strong enough." Logan grumbled and then we heart a metallic noise as his claws popped out, showing us the intensity of his frustration. "Maybe this needs a team to undo this."

It made even Aido flinch a little bit at the sound. "Maybe, but this is not child's play. It's a curse of the highest level." He answered then frowned, like he actually considered it but then found it impracticable.

"What about Kaname-sama?" I added, knowing that he as a pureblood would have access to vast power, more than any other vampire here at Cross Academy.

"He has the power but cannot use it in this case." He shook his head. "It takes more to this, than pure strength. Without talent and knowledge -- it's nothing." He slammed his hand on the table, taking his frustration out on the poor table. He took the book once again, desperately looking for something more and blanched.

"Here," he said almost tonelessly, giving the book back to Zero, who took the book without another word and went pale too.

They both looked ashen and uncomfortable, like they had found something they had hoped not to find. What was wrong?

"Zero, what's wrong?"

Zero held a book in his hands, the same one Aido had just held a few moments ago, remaining silent. I don't think I've ever seen him this pale, not since I first met him and when I had cleaned up his bloodied neck. Something had to be dreadfully wrong but what?

"This, thing, it has t-the possib-- no, it cannot be…" He stuttered, pointing at the book, which contained the info about the curse in question. "He has to have access to another pureblood, or at least the blood of one, to be able doing that."

"And?" I added, knowing that there was more to come.

"It means that Asato Ichijo has found a way to turn humans without being a pureblood himself." Zero concluded, his voice almost a whisper.

"That's impossible, Kiryu-kun. It's forbidden to take a pureblood's blood. You should know that." Aido retorted but I could see that he felt a bit of doubt about his own words. Sure, it was forbidden, but people were doing forbidden things all the time.

Well, Zero swallowed uneasily then shook his head, disagreeing with what Aido just had said. "Only because it's forbidden doesn't mean it's impossible."

"But…"

"There's no other explanation, Aido-senpai. There had been only Ichio, who could've done this. The others, including my own twin, aren't able to do this."

"There has to be another one." Aido insisted.

"Oh, really? And what do you think all those little ex-humans come from? How do you think they're controlled?" Zero sneered sarcastically making Aido glower back in anger, which resulted in another glacial glare from Zero. "Oh, and don't tell me that bullshit of them being forbidden too."

"Zero, Aido-senpai," I interrupted, trying to get them to cool down before this would turn into a full fledged brawl -- and I had the feeling without interrupting it would do that anytime soon now.

I sighed sadly, as neither of them reacted. So, I turned to Logan for help but he only smirked at me, seeming to be highly amused by the bickering of the two of them.

"I'm sorry but Kiryu-kun has a point" Ichijo interrupted us then and managed to do what I failed to do, cooling them down. He had just walked into the room and I could see Kurt and Bobby standing behind him. Zero and Aido had probably noticed this before me, but I wasn't sure, not with them arguing, like they had done a moment ago.

"So, what's this about, this … kindergarten?" Ichijo added with a broad grin.

"It's about Ichio. Kiryu-kun here thinks that he has access to a pureblood's blood."

"And you think it's impossible, yes?" Ichijo replied with strange smile on his lips. I also noticed that he was fiddling the charm, Ichio had lost, in his hands then looked down at it. "Well, this certainly says he had."

"What?" Aido looked now completely flabbergasted. "How?"

"How? I don't know, but Kaname-sama said that my grandfather had definitely used a pureblood's blood to make this. Worse, I got the feeling, he knows this certain pureblood -- but he hadn't wanted to tell me more about them for some reason." He threw the charm on the table and watched it break apart. "This is worthless now."

"Um, Ichijo, but where should he have gotten it? There aren't so many purebloods left that he could just ask one with out being punished severely." Aido muttered, still unbelieving what he had just heard.

"Maybe he didn't ask." Logan inserted.

"T-that's … heresy!" Aido stammered.

"Oh really? And you're really too innocent for yer own good." Logan raised his brows in return, making sure to let us see that he didn't believe in such things. "Nobody's holy -- and nobody's infallible."

"Still, it's not an easy feat to do." Aido insisted in slightly wavering voice. "They're not all that many left."

"I don't know Aido-kun, but somehow he had gotten hands on a pureblood. You wouldn't call Kaname-sama a liar, would you?" Ichijo asked, stressing the honorifics in his sentences, because he knew perfectly well how much Aido worshipped Kaname.

"No-no, of course not." Aido muttered hastily and looked down, feeling ashamed that his words might have considered that way. I guess from all of Night Class, it was Aido, who worshipped Kaname the most. I can only imagine what he must have been thinking then, calling his beloved pureblood a liar of all things -- impossible.

"Um, maybe I should go." Bobby muttered suddenly, in midst of the uneasy silence surrounding us. "I don't understand anything of this anyway. I'm of no use." He looked really uncomfortable around us, and the topic at hand.

"No, you stay … Drake-kun." Aido insisted, but he had trouble remembering Bobby's last name for a moment.

"But I'm no help in this and I think it would be better I stay with Rogue, helping Storm." He argued.

"You cannot leave right now. " Aido muttered, pointing to the door. "What if somebody sees you, sees us here?" He pointed towards Logan, Kurt and Bobby.

"Oh, I guess you've got a point there."

"Yes, I do. It's important this stays quiet. Isn't it Yuki-chan?"

"Oh, yes, it is. I'm sorry but Aido-senpai is right you cannot leave right now." I agreed, remembering those hunters around Mori-sama. What would they do if they found him? Bobby looked like he could defend himself, but he surely had no experience with hunters so far. He knew nothing about their methods of fighting and methods.

"Okay. I give in." He muttered after seeing the threatening look from both Aido and Zero. "I don't get it why we have to stay hidden but okay. I guess I just wait until you're done guys." He surly didn't sound very convinced but sat down on one of chairs by the window and kept quiet.

Aido's gaze then wandered around as if he was looking for something he had heard and then he tensed and his gaze fell on the open door, watching it intensely. "Had it been open before?" I wondered.

"Ichijo, about people seeing us, why did you leave the door open?"

"I thought we needed a little fresh air here. One needs air to think properly." Ichijo explained calmly. "Don't worry, Kain is watching out for any unwanted visitors."

"I hope you he doesn't fall asleep." Aido snorted in return but let it go for now.

"Oh, don't worry, you should know your cousin better than I."

"Yeah, but that's exactly it." Aido muttered, but still looked tense.

"Zero, you had been serious about Ichio?" I asked, unsure of what to think about this turn of events and what that could imply.

Zero nodded then frowned, giving Ichijo a long searching look. "You didn't know he was here until he lost that charm, did you?"

"Yeah, we didn't …" Ichijo replied but trailed off to only to stare wide-eyed at him. "You're not serious with what you're implying?"

"I don't know, but it makes sense -- in a terrible sort of way." Zero replied, his voice almost emotionless.

"Daichi!" I gasped. "It had to be him, who turned the boy."

"Maybe, but that doesn't help us in removing the curse." Aido answered unsure.

"Oh, right."

"Maybe we can do something to regain the missing text." Kurt suddenly put in. "Can I see it?"

"Oh, sure." Aido muttered slowly and showed Kurt the passage in question, but it was obvious that Aido wasn't really comfortable with this, with letting a complete stranger see this book. It was understandable, seeing as it contained secrets, which shouldn't get into the public under any circumstances -- just like Night Class' secret in general.

"Do you have something to write?" Kurt asked after a few minutes later and then I watched him writing, no it was more like he was drawing something on the paper, because he couldn't read the language, of course.

"How?"

"Um, how? Oh, well, I can see it." He pointed towards the missing passage. "There's still a remnant of the original text visible." Kurt continued to explain only to stop when he saw our confused looks. "You can't see it?"

"No, we can't." We said all at once. Well, we, all but Logan, I noticed.

"Um, I guess, it's because of my mutation." Kurt stammered.

"It's simple, he can see infra-red colours and such." Logan explained. "And who ever wrote this is bound to leave a trace behind."

"It must be amazing to see things that way." I said, thinking of how different the world had to look to his eyes.

"It's nothing special. I'm sure most of you have more than average senses, have you not?" Kurt looked at the three vampires next to him.

"Exactly my opinion." Kurt concluded and he was right, of course. "So what does it mean, what I've written?" He asked, while watching Aido and Zero with an intense look, while the two were going over the paper Kurt had used to write on.

"We're not sure." Both replied at once and strangely sported nearly the same look on their faces.

"What we mean," Aido continued, "is that we know now what to do but exactly how."

"He's right; it's clear that this needs both of us to solve this." Zero added.

"And?"

"It had never been done before." Aido explained as if that would say everything but I was completely clueless what they were talking about and so was Kurt, who gave them only another confused stare.

"What hadn't been done before?" Kurt asked in return but Aido and Zero never got answer his question because we were interrupted.

Snikt!

I jerked around, seeing that Logan had unshed his claws, what was going on? I noticed that Aido was looking at the door again and so were Zero and Ichijo.

"What is he doing here?" Asked Zero into the tense silence.

It was Katashi, he was alone -- and he looked like he had cried recently. His eyes were puffy and his face a bright red. What happened and why didn't Kain stop him?

"What have you done to me?" Katashi queried, almost screaming at Zero.

"What?"

"Last night, you did something to me. I don't remember but father said you'd messed with my head."

Zero swallowed. "I just sent you back to your room, Katashi-kun. You've been breaking the rules."

"Well, whatever," he replied in a bitter tone. "I've got now these!!" He screamed then went quiet, staring at Zero then at Aido and Ichijo and back. Katashi went pale, like had seen a ghost.

Click. He retracted his claws and released them again and again, still staring at Zero.

"You're a mutant?" I asked in surprise, seeing retractable claws on his hands, just there were normal people had fingernails. Actually it looked rather neat, seeing as they looked rather useful. Well, Katashi wouldn't think so, not with that kind of father I tried to say something more but stopped when he looked even worse.

"You," he muttered, pointing at Zero. "Y-you're like them."

I watched Katashi with growing puzzlement. I thought he already knew that Zero was a vampire, so what was this about? Well, it went worse, because Katashi started to tremble visibly.

"You feel exactly like them." He said, gesturing towards Aido and Ichijo.

"What?" Zero muttered in confusion. "I'm not like them."

"No, I mean I should be able to feel the human remnant in you, just like father had told us -- but I can't feel it." Katashi's voice trembled. "Shizuka Hio is dead so this isn't possible." The last sentence was only a whisper, which I could barely out make.

"No, no…." Zero muttered now, with growing fear in his eyes. He looked so lost that I put my arms around him, pulling his trembling body closer to mine.

"Oh, Zero," I thought, thinking of all the things he had to endure -- and now this? I think it was something he had feared all the time, that the vampire would devour him in the end. Okay, he had meant that in another sense, falling to Level E, but this, it was differed; I was sure about it.

"He's right," Ichijo said with slight frown on his face. "You feel like one of us, like a full vampire." He added and frowned even more seeing the panicked reaction from Zero.

"It's good news, can't you see it?" Aido piped in. "Now you won't ever fall to Level E."

"That's really true?" I asked slowly, barely believing what I just heard. It would too good to be true, because it would also meant I wouldn't have to kill him, wouldn't lose him to madness like that.

"It looks like it is." Ichijo smiled broadly. "Come don't make such a face Kiryu-kun. You've known that there was no way back, ever since you've been bitten, haven't you? And now you won't have to worry about madness, ever. What do you want more?"

"Hey, maybe these will work for you too now!" Aido said happily. He looked so exited that I had to do a double take, because he now really looked like a child, a big blue-eyed child -- or a mad scientist. Well, I preferred the child above the scientist.

"Don't!" Zero growled.

"But you won't ever know if you don't try." Aido replied, insisting that Zero tried to take them. He had even pulled some bloodtablets and a glass of water, seemingly out of nowhere and offered it to Zero, just like a travelling salesman would offer his products -- well, only Aido was more stubborn about it.

"No."

"Well, he has a point there, Kiryu-kun." Ichijo pointed out. "He's right, you've definitely changed -- and remember, it would make things a lot easier if you could take them."

"Zero, please?" I pleaded. "They're right, you know. You won't know if they would work if you don't try."

"Yuki…" He began then, hesitatingly at first, took the glass from Aido. He eyed it as if it contained poison, then brought it to his lips. He took a tiny sip and waited, waited for it to make him nauseous. Yes, that's what he said it did to him, it made him ill in the stomach.

I watched him anxious, praying with all my heart, hoping that this would work and he could be finally find relieve from all that pain. I felt better with every minute I watched and then I think my heart leaped from joy when I say him take another sip, and another one until he had emptied it.

Five minutes later, everything stayed fine and I pulled him even closer, needing to feel that this was real -- and not a dream.

"Yuki," he said, "I think you can let go of me now."

"Oh, all right," I answered and releasing him, grinning broadly, then shook my head. "No, Zero, I'll be at your side, always."

I smiled, knowing that he still needed support -- even if he was too proud to show it. He was so stubborn, but I was glad about that too, because he was alive because of it.

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_Thank you for reading_

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To **The Invisible Fan: **Thanks for giving me the idea to keep them longer at the Academy.

_Miarath_


	12. X Change Part Two

Change of Heart - Chapter Twelve

For Disclaimer see Chapter One

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**X-Change - Part Two**

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"Ehem?" A voice broke through the haze, of the comfortable feeling of being seated like this, with my arms around Zero and happy that he didn't seem to mind it too. It had been so comfortable that nearly forgot about the other boy, about Katashi, who had started this.

"Sorry," I muttered and started to say something but trailed off when I saw Bobby approaching him. "What had the brunette boy in mind?" I wondered, seeing the sly glint in his eyes.

"These look really cool," Bobby said and touched one of the still extended claws with a slightly ice-covered finger, making the claw automatically retreat, returning to look like a ordinary finger nail. He grinned. "Very nice."

"Really?" Katashi looked down giving his hands another look. They were looking ordinary now, with no hint of claws at all. Then he frowned and watching them appear, then disappear and finally appear again.

"Yeah, really, I bet they're rather useful too." Bobby smiled warmly, pointing at the other boy's claws. "They're retractable like a cat's, right?"

Katashi nodded, looking a bit calmer but still puzzled and somewhat lost. It was understandable, after the way he was brought up with a conservative father like Mori-sama. I really hoped he wouldn't have to face his father about this, poor Katashi.

"Can you … help me?" Katashi asked, sounding now really forlorn. "Father won't never accept me like this, being … a m-mutant." It sounded as if he were to break out in tears anytime soon. I believed him and then looked from him to Kurt and Logan, as they seemed to be the ones in charge there. They had to be able to do something about this, help him.

"Come here." I said motioning towards Kurt was talking quietly with Logan. "You can help him, right?"

"I assume he can come with us to the institute." He answered with a thoughtful expression, then turned around to Katashi and added, "You're welcome, that is if you want to."

"Really?" The boy asked, not knowing how to deal with so much kindness.

"Yes, really." Bobby replied. "Your name's Katashi, right? I'm Bobby Drake, this is Kurt Wagner and the grim guy over there is Logan." Gesturing towards Kurt and Logan but got a glare from the latter one. Well, Bobby just shrugged. "Don't worry, he's a good guy, despites how he looks." He gave Katashi a reassuring smile and there was something in his eyes, like he knew how Katashi must be feeling right now, being not accepted by his own father.

"Good to know, thanks, um, Bobby-kun."

"Just Bobby."

"Oh, okay."

"Ehem, can we resume what we came for?" Aido asked.

"Sorry, I did interrupt you on something important, didn't I?" Katashi replied, giving the blonde noble a slightly insecure look, not knowing how to react but then decided move to Bobby's side. "I won't be in your way anymore." He added -- and I believed it; he sounded honest.

"So, about the curse …" Aido said but trailed off and looked towards the door again. 'I followed his look and noticed Kain walking up to us. He looked slightly upset, wearing a frown on his face.

"I'm sorry." Kain swallowed. "Teacher caught me skipping class again." He explained but then stopped, seeing Katashi in midst us.

"What's he doing here?"

"It's okay Kain, we've got everything under control." Ichijo answered calmly, then pointing towards Katashi. "He's not an enemy anymore, isn't that right?" He looked straight at the boy in question, making sure he understood how serious we were about this.

"Oh, um, right. Please don't worry." Katashi nodded. "I can't go back anyway,"

"See, it's all settled."

"Okay." Kain said then shook his head. "But I should've stayed, watching out."

"Oh, and what good would've that done to us? Remember, this needs to be kept quite." Ichijo disagreed.

"Maybe you're right."

"Of course, I am." The blonde vice-president assured calmly.

"Okay," Kain replied then gave the books and us another look. "So, how did it go?"

"Not very good." Aido answered. "We've found a way to solve this maze, only to find that we don't have the power to actually do the ritual."

"Highest level?" Kain raised his brows in surprise, seeing, as Ichio was only a noble after all, a very old one, but still only a noble. Highest level meant power only a pureblood would possess, at least that was how Aido had explained that.

"Yeah, just our luck."

"Let me see." He demanded, taking the transcript into his hand and stayed quite for long while, reading it over and over again.

"Anything?" Aido asked after he had watched his cousin so deep in thought for a while.

"Hmm, maybe." He looked up and nodded to himself. "You'll need at least two people, who're able to draw the power away from that rose. If you try it alone, the backslash is probably going to kill you … if not for --" He stopped then a smile crept slowly on his face, and he gave Zero a strange look.

"Kain?" Aido gave his cousin a confused look, obviously not knowing that he was up to.

"I think I've got the solution to our problem. You can do it alone, if the rose has been made inactive for the time being."

"Inactive, yeah, I know what you mean, but that's not our problem, Kain."

"I guess that's where Kiryu-kun comes into play." Kain chuckled, startling Zero into a confused glare.

""I guess so," Zero grumbled. "Yet, it's not all we need for this." Zero frowned showing Kain the passage he meant, and then gave it back to Aido.

"So, what does this curse actually do?" Kurt asked, nodding to Aido and Zero. "When you've first seen her you've been talking something about a ''change' -- does this mean, this turns her into a vampire?"

Aido looked up from the text, he had been reading like for the tenth time and shook his head. "It's designed to look like it's turning the victim into one of us -- but it doesn't actually. It's going to kill her, if we don't find a way to undo it."

"You're going to do undo it, are you?" Bobby asked, the tremble in his voice betraying how much he really was worried about Rogue's state.

"We can only hope." Zero answered then frowned, picking up another book to finally looked up again, meeting Aido's eyes. "Here, this should work." He handed him the book, which looked like one of Yagari-sensei's.

"This should do." Aido nodded, then glanced towards Zero's tattoo. "It's very similar to that spell used in your tattoo, isn't it?"

Zero only nodded then frowned because he caught Kurt staring at him. "What?" He glared then nodded. "Yeah, maybe it is. It was supposed to stop … my change." He shrugged. "Hasn't worked too well, has it?"

"Um, so, you've been human before," Bobby blurred out giving Zero a curious look.

"Well, sort of." Zero grumbled, hoping that he would let it go, which he did, but sighed in frustration when he noticed the curious look on the blue furred mutant on the other side. Kurt was giving Zero a rather strange look.

"How long does it take to change into a vampire?" Kurt asked slowly, hesitatingly seeing as this seemed to be delicate topic but on the other hand too curious not to ask.

I hugged Zero, trying to calm him down but I didn't need to have to, as the expected glare didn't come. No, instead Zero fixed Kurt with a serious gaze, as if trying to find out what the mutant's intention was but found only concern mixed with a little curiosity.

"I don't know," Zero muttered, shrugging. "Took me about four years, but that's hardly normal."

"He's right. Kiryu-kun wasn't exactly an average human after all," Ichijo said then gave Zero a long glance, waiting for his agreement on whatever, which he got a minute later with Zero nodding in return. "Zero's of hunter origin, and had very little human blood even before this happened. Am I right?" He added slowly, almost hesitating, knowing that it was still a delicate topic to Zero.

Zero nodded again and looked down. "Yes, I guess you're right." There was a strange undertone to his voice, like defeat -- giving into something he must have known long ago but had refused to acknowledge until now.

"Zero, no," I muttered, clawing my hands deeper into his shirt. "You're as much human to me like anybody else. It doesn't matter."

"But it's true, Yuki." Zero whispered back. "We hunters are barely human."

"Um, sorry, this is still rather new to me." Kurt muttered an apology.

"Just forget, yes?"

"So, you need to do this ritual -- and everything is going to be back to normal?" Kurt asked then.

"Yeah," Zero replied but looked really awkward.

"But?"

"It'll need both me and Aido for this to work, both hunter and vampire magic." He explained the source of his unease. "We've got to combine it, to force the curse from her."

"Yes, it's true. Kiryu-kun here needs to deactivate the curse so I can remove it."

"That's all?"

"Um, no, we'll need blood for it to work."

I swallowed. "Whose blood?" I didn't like this needing of blood at all, course it made this sound like some black magic, but well, I should've expected it. It was vampire magic after all.

"That's the problem," Aido replied while trying to keep his calm. "The first part is easy, as it only needs my and Kiryu-kun's blood -- but the final part, well…"

"How?" I wondered.

"It's this," Zero answered, pointing at the text, he had translated into Japanese so the others and I would be able to read. "It's a riddle."

"Yeah, a riddle, which makes no sense." Aido agreed. "The blood of two, who are one."

"Let me see," Ichijo asked, reaching for the paper in Aido's hand and frowned. "It's not so complicated, Aido. This is an ancient term for a two-way bloodbond: Two, who are one." He explained, all the way giving Zero weird little looks, watching him intensely, like he was waiting for something. I looked from Ichijo to Zero and back, noticing a nervous twitch around Zero's eyes. What was this about?

"Well, that doesn't help much; we don't have any bloodbonded vampires here." Aido objected, shrugging helplessly. "And that's nothing any of us would do light heartily --being bloodbonded is forever."

Zero blanched then, turning a ghostly pale, swallowing hard, slumping down on his chair. Then next thing I remember was him shaking softly, and shrugging my arms off him. His face held an indefinable expression, like one was suddenly aware of something very painful one had to do, but knew it was necessary.

"Zero?" I asked, concerned about his reaction, his eyes staring into empty air. "Everything okay?" I asked again, still nothing. I shook his shoulders. "Zero!"

"Yuki?" He blinked looked down again, mustering the floor. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry," he repeated, "I need to go." His voice becoming more urgent with every word he said on.

"What?" I asked, now even more worried.

"I really need to go, Yuki." He said hoarsely and swallowed, then went up and went for the door, faster than I could react, vanishing through the door in a blur.

"Zero?" I called but he was already gone, so I looked back to Ichijo. "Do you know what this was about?" I asked him, but got only a shrug as answer, but I could see a suspicious glint in his green eyes.

"Ichijo-senpai?" I asked, wishing he would say something, just something so I could understand this.

"I'm sorry, I can't Yuki-chan." He answered and shook his head once again.

Yes, Ichijo definitely knew something. I was sure about that, but he didn't want to talk about it. Why? It seemed too important to our goal, removing that curse from Rogue, so why did he refuse to say anything?

A moment later the silence was broken by a loud beep. "It's Logan's beeper." I thought and shivered, course that couldn't mean anything good. I watched him take it out and talk for a few moments then put it out and back again.

"Bad news," Logan explained, "you've got to do this as fast as possible."

-

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xxx

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-

I'm not sure what happened exactly next, as everything seemed to happen at once. While Ichijo and Kurt remained in the library to keep an eye on Katashi, the rest of us followed Logan and Bobby back to Moon Dorm. Thankfully we made it without being seen or interrupted. Well, it wasn't all that difficult seeing as the campus was empty because everyone seemed to be where they're supposed to be. The other night class students were in class and Day Class in their dorms, sleeping.

Moon Dorm was also eerily quiet, until we reached Rogue's room. She had her eyes open, yet seemed unaware of her surroundings or us -- and she seemed to experience a horrible nightmare too, because of the pained expression she wore on her face.

Rogue was delirious; no wonder why Storm had called Logan in the first place -- and why we were here now. It was also obvious that the white haired woman didn't understand what Rogue kept saying, course she was muttering things in Japanese.

"There's a woman…" I heard her murmur.

"Ichiru?" Rogue asked and then screamed suddenly. "No!" Storm tried to calm her down as best she could but with little success as Rogue started to sob in her arms.

"Logan, I don't know what's she's talking about." Storm wore a helpless look on her proud face, her hair messy from watching and worrying over Rogue. "She's growing worse Logan."

"It's Japanese, Ro," Logan answered then shook his head. "But that's all I know. Don't know what's she's talking about."

"She's got a fever too." The white haired woman frowned, checking the fever thermometer she held in her hand and shivered. "She had to become better." Storm's voice broke at her last words. "She had endured so much … it be unfair for it to end like this.

"Shish," Logan muttered, almost too quite for me to hear. "Marie's strong, Ro." He added, putting a hand on her left shoulder, which seemed effectively calming her down.

"I know." She replied then turned her attention back to the pale girl on the bed. "But I can't help worrying… we've lost too many this year."

Logan didn't reply anything but took her hand in his other hand and a squeezed it amazingly softly for a hulk of a man he was. "It's okay Logan." She whispered her thanks.

"That woman," I repeated slowly, wondering why these words seemed to feel so familiar. "Ichiru?" I wondered and froze, tilting my head so I could better understand what she was talking. I swallowed again, because I now remembered where heard these words before, almost four years ago.

I had heard it before, almost four years ago when I had watched over a certain silver-haired boy struggle with the aftermath of his parents' death and with his own destiny.

In short, Rogue was reliving the night when Zero's parents were killed and he had been bitten -- and she seemed to relive it rather physically too. She kept reaching for her neck, as if she wanted to scratch it but every time her hand reached that particular spot she moaned in pain and jerked her hand away. Strange, it seemed almost like the mark wanted to avoid being touched by her. Would it fight against us like that when we were going to remove it? I looked towards Aido, watching his eyes turning to slits momentarily only for his frown to deepen every time he watched her.

I shook my head, remembering that wondering things like this wouldn't help at all.

"She has touched him, your friend Zero, hasn't she?" Logan said with a strange expression and then sat down, next to Storm, touching Rogue lightly through the covers.

"Yes, she had." I agreed but didn't know what he was up to with this.

"I think that's your explanation," he added thoughtfully, "about your friend's change. It's in her powers' nature, absorbing things from other people. Normally it's only temporary, but sometimes it's not."

"Wha- you mean Rogue has taken Zero's human part away?" I gasped, remembering that haunting moment when Zero had looked so -- far away and lost.

"Yep, makes perfect sense to me." Logan nodded. "He wasn't cold out, was he?"

"No, he had just spaced out, like he was in some weird trance afterwards." I answered, carefully avoiding what happened after that thing.

Logan nodded again then looked towards Aido, who was already busy with placing several items on her night table. Obviously Aido was nervous because Zero was still missing. Where had he gone and more so why? I really hadn't liked that expression of urgency on his face.

"You got to do this." Logan said but it sounded more like a prayer to me.

"Well, we've to wait until Kiryu-kun returns." Aido answered then paused briefly, giving the door an impatient look. "I can't do this with out him."

Logan muttered some curse at this under his breath, nothing in particular I could understand but the meaning was clear. I hoped Zero would return soon, seeing the painful and delirious look on Rogue's face.

Well, we hadn't have to wait long in the end, because just a few minutes the door opened, almost as if answering Aido's wish, revealing Zero and Kaname. I thought they both looked painful uncomfortable and way too pale. "Kaname-senpai," I whispered, wondering what made him look like this.

"You've got everything ready?" Kaname asked, giving Aido a dark look, saying that he better had to able to make this work.

"Um, yeah, everything's ready. I've only waited for him." He pointed to the Zero, standing next to Kaname. "But…" Aido swallowed uncomfortable, but knowing that he had to tell him this, tell him the truth.

"But you need something more, am I right?" Kaname continued for him and narrowed his eyes to slits, frowning at the young noble in front of him.

"Um, yeah, that is right Kaname-sama." He answered. "For the ritual to be completed … it needs the blood of two bloodbonded vampires." He swallowed in defeat, looking down. "Something we don't have." Aido closed his eyes for a moment, like awaiting whatever he expected the pureblood to scold him with -- only it never came.

"Bloodbonded vampires," Kaname repeated instead and nodded, taking Zero's hand in his own, like needing support.

"I'm afraid, you're wrong Aido-kun." He said softly, almost a whisper and tightened his grip on Zero's hand. It went both ways I noticed, because Zero's hand did the same, like holding on for dear life. What was this about?

"What?!" Aido gasped, looking from Kaname to Zero. "Wha- no, you can't be serious, Kaname-sama? Can you?" He swallowed. "You and Kiryu-kun?"

"Well, we really need to resolve this, better sooner than later." Kaname said, ignoring the blonde noble's question and instead handed him a little patch of paper.

Aido took it, looking at it with growing dread in his eyes. "This, this is treason, it's heresy! Ichio's mad, threatening you like that!" He cursed, but I could see the disbelief in his clear blue eyes. "He can't be serious about asking this, ordering your blood from you, Kaname-sama."

"I know, but if you don't remove this curse from her, everyone she has touched will die." Kaname said hoarsely, still holding tightly on Zero's hand. "Everyone she'd touched will die." He looked from me to Zero and back, fixing us with a gaze no one of us could look away from.

"Zero," I muttered, Rogue had touched him not that long ago and if we didn't solve this… No, that couldn't be happening, no, not Zero.

"You're really …. bloodbonded?" Aido asked in a trembling voice, staring firmly at Kaname and Zero as if wishing for a negative answer there, if it weren't necessary for the task at hand -- but he got only a slowly hesitating nod, from both of them.

"Then this simply has to work." He concluded in a grave voice. "Ichio doesn't know that he'll get nothing if the curse finishes her, does he?"

"Oh, what?" I thought, confused by Aido's words then swallowed, remembering something the headmaster said, once when I had been a little girl, about bloodbonded vampires. If one of them were to die, the other's bound to go insane and follow his mate eventually.

Bloodbonded, Zero and Kaname.

Oh, hell. That meant that if this wasn't going to work …

I'd lose both.

-

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-

_Thanks for reading and all your reviews._

_Hop you like this chapter even if it's a little shorter. _

_Sorry about the cliffy, but I didn't want to let you wait any longer right now. :D_

_-_

_Miarath  
_


	13. Saving Grace

Chapter Thirteen of 'Change of Heart'

For Disclaimer see first Chapter.

Sorry for the long delay.

* * *

-

**Saving Grace**

-

I stood there like this, staring at them for what seemed like a small eternity to me and then I felt the sudden urge to grab them both and hold them as tight as I could, never letting go.

In the end I didn't any of this, cause I knew, that wouldn't help at all, wouldn't change a thing. No, we needed to do this instead -- fast. I swallowed.

"I think we … should start now." I said slowly, still shaken from this news.

"Yes, you're right, Yuki-chan. Of course." Aido blinked and swallowed then turned his gaze from me to Zero. "Kiryu-kun?" He motioned for Zero to take the place on the other side of Rogue's bed.

Zero only nodded and sat down on the other side, waiting for the blonde noble to start the ritual. I watched Aido fiddling with some stuff, which smelled like incense.

"So, how's this supposed to work?" I asked slowly, more to distract me from the possible disaster this would be if we failed than out of curiosity. I eyed Aido and the things he had prepared thoughtful, wondering how this fit all together. There were candles and a rather nasty looking large dagger on the table closest to the bed.

"Well, I need to mix our blood with these herbs." He explained. "Here, see, it's for the first part where we have to weaken the curse so we can undo it finally."

"I just hope it works." I muttered, trying not to look at Zero or Kaname because if I did I felt like I would start crying any time. I couldn't lose them, not like this.

"I hope so." Zero nodded.

What then happened, was that Zero and Aido took their position next to Rogue, one right, the other one left -- but then Aido froze frowning. His gaze went from the mark on her neck to her friend Logan. He nodded towards Rogue. "Can you hold her in place?"

"Yes," Logan answered slowly, "but why?" He was right, why did she needed to be hold in place? She looked rather calm now and had stopped tossing and turning a few minutes ago.

"It's because, Ichio might feel that we're going to tamper with this … and then I'm afraid she won't be this peaceful." The blonde noble explained in unusual serious voice for him.

"He can feel her through this?" Logan all but growled in return but did what he was asked to do. He sat down near the pillow and held her firmly in place, while making sure not to touch her bare skin. I swallowed uneasily again, noticing his grim look -- and hoped everything would turn out well, for if not I wasn't sure I wanted to see what would happen then. Logan seemed to be more than able to handle a noble vampire like Ichio, even considering what happened last night.

Then the ritual started for real, with Aido using both his and Zero's blood to draw a circle around the rose on Rogue's neck. Zero held his hand over the rose while Aido chanted something I didn't understand. He waited a moment longer until Zero removed his hand and I could see that the rose had changed to a silvery white instead of the angry crimson it had been before.

"You're ready?" Zero asked Aido then, who nodded in return and then touched the rose with his fingertips and whispered another word I didn't understand.

"Um," Aido muttered looking from Zero to Kaname. "Now it's your turn." He said and gave Kaname an ancient looking dagger. "You've got to coat this with both your blood." The blonde noble explained what they needed to do.

"Completely?" Kaname asked, eyeing the rather wicket looking blade.

"Um, yes, the blade has to be completely covered in blood." Aido answered then gave the quivering girl another surveying look. "If not, she'll probably bleed to death when I use this to break the rose seal." I shivered at his last words, thinking of what damage a blade like that could cause.

Both Kaname and Zero nodded at his explanation and Kaname freed his right wrist from his shirt and cut his wrist with the dagger, coating its blade completely with his blood. I shivered seeing the intensity of their gazes, and Kaname's eyes seemed to be fixed on Zero's for the whole time. Then he gave Zero the dagger but stopped him with a gesture and held his injured wrist to Zero's lips, offering him his blood.

I watched fascinated as Zero's tongue dashed out to lick the pureblood's wrist clean and I was more than amazed by the look of utter rapture on his face, so very different from the Zero I knew. I had never imagined seeing such utter adoration, such devotion in his expression -- and Kaname too, whose gaze would've been strong enough to set the whole place on fire if gazes could do that.

If Zero or Kaname were aware of the surprised gasps from the other noble's standing around us, they didn't show it. I was so captured by this intensity that I almost missed it when Kaname finally offered the dagger to Zero, who took it and mirrored Kaname's action, slicing his own wrist just in the same manner.

Was he going to offer his blood to Kaname too? For a moment I wasn't sure as I saw Zero returning the dagger to Aido but then he turned around, facing Kaname once more.

Yes, he was, seeing him offering in return and the pureblood taking it gracefully.

What then came was rather unspectacular, compared to the scene before as it only contained Aido criss-crossing the rose until it glowed brightly and vanished. I gasped in surprise, because I had expected it to leave a mess of blood behind, but all the blood on her neck vanished when the curse finally broke.

I think I was never so happy as when I saw Rogue opening her eyes to look wide-eyed at us. She stared a little more before finally sitting up; taking in the strange arrangement we were standing around her bed, watching her. Well, we weren't that many really, only her friends, Aido and his cousin Kain, Kaname, Zero and me.

"What … had happened?" she muttered, her right hand automatically reaching for her neck where the vampire had bitten her. "That bastard had bitten me, hasn't he?" She blanched from that memory then murmured another curse under her breath.

"Yeah, looks like he had." Logan murmured and pulled her into an embrace, ignoring the surprised gasp she uttered as she felt his strong arms around her. "L-logan?"

"Shish," he whispered, "we can do this."

I sighed in relief and sat down on the side of her bed, giving Rogue a warm grin. "Yes, he's right. Things are going to be fine."

"What he done to me?" she muttered. "It had been more than just a bite, right?"

"I'm afraid you're right. That other guy, Ichio had cursed you, Marie." Logan explained. "And the we're here to lift that curse from you darling."

"A curse?" She repeated with raised brows then sighed. "A damned curse?"

"Yeah, shish." Logan muttered then nodded to us, motioning that we should leave them alone so she could rest.

"Okay, you're right, we should leave," I said then looking at Aido and Zero, noticing how tired they were looking. "We need sleep too."

We were almost out of the room, when Zero and Aido slumped down, exhausted, but they were both caught before they could hit the floor. Kain caught his cousin Aido, holding him now with a tender care, which was so intense that I had to look away. Kain had waited patiently all the time, watching over Aido all the time he had been busy with doing the ritual. I wasn't surprised that Zero was caught by Kaname, but I was deeply touched by the tenderness he held Zero close to him.

Kaname brought Zero into one of the remaining guest rooms -- and then I couldn't help but watch them. I couldn't help but watch Zero awakening in Kaname's arms and then, it looked like he wanted to kiss him -- and Kaname too, as they were both moving their heads closer to each other but stopped then, almost close enough to touch each other.

Then they shivered, gazes burning into each other eyes before their lips finally met in a kiss, at first tender than becoming more intense with every moment.

There was so much raw hunger in this single kiss that I felt unbidden heat coiling up in myself. It was so intense, such an erotic display and it didn't help that they were the two guys I loved most, no, that made it only worse. It was almost like in one of my weirder dreams, when I had dreamed of being with both of them, which I knew was impossible of course -- but…

I swallowed and as sudden as they had starting kissing each other they stopped it, jerking away from each other as if they had been burned.

I really didn't understand them then; I mean they seemed to be so perfect for each other and the bloodbond had to make it even worse, but yet they fought to act on it.

That was when I met both of their gazed and froze, realizing it was about me.

"Yuki?" They both asked, with flushed faces, knowing that I had caught them in a tender moment I wasn't supposed to see.

"Don't …" I muttered, "not because of me." I swallowed and looked down.

I shivered and ran away, course I didn't know what to do else.

-

* * *

xxx

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-

Things were still awfully weird a few days later, even if I tried to return to normal with school and prefect duties. I don't know how, but father, had convinced those hunters around Mori-sama to leave Cross Academy. Well, I had suspected that the video, Aido had given me, had something to do with this. So, with the hunters gone it was refreshing peaceful, and Rogue's friends were now staying along with her in my father's rooms.

Yeah, things were pretty back to normal and I was enjoying another breakfast with father. I was really happy things were back to what the used to be -- well almost. I swallowed suddenly, thinking of what all had happening, how many things have changed; things, which would never go back to what they had been before. "Zero," I thought, knowing that he had irrevocable changed.

"Yuki?" I heard him say slowly, noticing a strange undertone to his voice -- and that familiar glint in his eyes. He was planning something, but what?

"Head- ehem, father?" I asked, surprised to see him here and seeing that goofy smile on his lips.

"Yuki, do you remember the girl, Marie-chan touched?

"Yes, of course."

"She's awake -- and she wants to talk with Marie too; telling her that she forgives her what happened."

"What? Really?"

"Yes, really -- and this makes me think of something else, about how the children see mutants. Wouldn't it be good for them to know more about them and that they didn't need to fear mutants?" He asked bouncily sounding so exited about this.

"Yes, I guess it would." I agreed slowly not quite knowing what he was up to with this, probably some crazy scheme of his, like always. Well, I agreed with him on his opinion about peace between humans and vampires, so I guess this would include mutants too.

"What I mean, wouldn't it be wonderful to have two of Marie's teachers here as teachers for some days, so that the children could learn more about mutants?" He smiled broadly, happily.

"Oh, father you and your peace," I groaned inwardly. "But what about Mori-sama?" I said aloud, knowing that 'he hadn't left Cross Academy, not like the other hunters.

"He won't dare anything, Yuki-chan." Father replied; he was in full headmaster mode now. "I've made sure so. Everything he could try would only to his disadvantage." He added with an almost evil grin.

"I hope you're right."

He stared at me.

"What?"

"Don't you trust your daddy?"

"Um, yes, father." I said slowly, knowing he would whine about this until I said what he wanted to hear from me. Well, he was really my adoptive father, wasn't he? And most of the time I thought of him as such, but it was sometimes even I got confused between seeing him as my father and my headmaster.

-

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xxx

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-

I saw him, Mori-sama, watching them and us from behind. He had the guts to even attend one of the classes my father had arranged for Storm and Logan to teach. I suspected him to try something, but he stayed quiet, just listened like everybody else.

Then my gaze fell on Katashi, who looked very tens and tried to avoid his father's gaze. Did his father already know about his change? I took another careful look at Mori-sama then, but he didn't even seem to notice his son's being here at all. His attention was on the teacher in front, on Storm. I returned my attention back to her -- and the topic she'd chosen to teach us about, history. To be honest it's not what I had expected, but then the exact theme she'd chosen fit perfectly to our current situation, with people being afraid of mutants and all. She was talking about pain and torture early Christians had to go through under emperor Nero. I shivered, because she had a way of making feel things so real, so intense.

So completely different from what I'd ever heard before, so very different from the stories father told sometimes from the war between vampires and humans. Neither of them were completely innocent, but were those early Christians innocent? No, probably not. They had been human, with good and bad sides, just like we, just like everyone.

I must say, I really enjoyed this history class. It was faster over than I had expected and we were back on campus, on our way to the next class.

"She's right, isn't she?" I whispered to Yori next to me. "We're all people, aren't we?"

Yori nodded thoughtfully then shook her head slowly. "Yes, she is, but there are always people, who won't accept this, Yuki."

"I know." I said, thinking of those hunters and Mori-same, of course. I really doubted that anything Storm said here would make a difference to him.

"They won't change." I heard Zero murmuring on the other side. He sounded bitter -- and he looked pretty tired I noticed. His eyelids were hanging low, his eyes almost closed and I could see how he used his hair and hand to shield himself against the sun, which was new. The sun hadn't bothered him before, right?

"I, well, I can't believe that Zero." I said, feeling a little rebellious. "Everybody can change … I just have to believe … in this or…" I shivered because I couldn't help thinking about the dreadful things, which could happen if he was right … and I wrong.

Zero only snorted in return -- but I could see from the glint in his eyes, that he wished he could believe; that he could believe in the good in people.

"Yuki?" Yori asked slowly, gaining a little speed and thus walking now next to me.

"Yes?" I looked at her, seeing the familiar curiosity in her eyes again.

"What do you think it's going to be like? This bareback riding thing?"

"Oh," I thought Yori meant our next class, held by Logan. I couldn't help but feel a little anxious about this too. I've never done that before.

"I don't know. Exciting?" I offered, but I sounded less than excited about this. Well, I was curious but also afraid of failing miserably -- and thus making a big fool out of me and with my luck I might end up with White Lily again.

"Yes, I can hardly imagine him as a teacher, Yuki."

I simply nodded in return. Yep, Logan was definitely different and unique I thought, then blinked. "It doesn't bother you that he's a mutant?" I asked slowly, feeling curious about how she thought about this. Yori was the most normal person I knew after all and unlike myself not so familiar with the supernatural as in vampires.

"No, why should it?" She asked back with a grin then looked around as in making sure we weren't overheard. "What are mutants to vampires?"

"Of course you're right." I muttered ruefully.

Riding class went surprisingly fine for a change, but that could be because of the unique way Logan was handling us all, the horses and us. Well, I still thought it was because Zero claimed Lily for himself so none of us had to ride her.

"She's quite exceptional," Logan said thoughtfully after having watched Zero and Lily for a while.

"Yes, she's different." I agreed, knowing that he meant Lily because there wasn't any other she he couldn't have meant with his words. "But she has also a bad temper."

"No, she hasn't." He disagreed. "She wants to treated with respect. That's all."

"What?" I muttered feeling surprised by his thoughtful answer.

"Yes," Logan said and smiled suddenly. "She's no slave and she knows it."

-

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xxx

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-

Well, things went like my father has planned them out -- that was until class changeover that day. First things were almost normal, with Day Class giggling silly like usual, waiting for their idols to arrive and Zero and me keeping them under control.

Well, almost normal that was. I noticed Logan and Storm standing near that big three their, watching the whole thing with amused expressions. I thought I caught Logan chuckling more than once, sounding almost like a giggle, which was weird indeed. Hearing that from a hunk of a man like him, giggling like that? Oh, okay, it was a weird sight too, seeing those girls fawn about Night Class like usual, them not knowing that they were vampires.

Then they were gone and Zero and I started to follow them to the main building when I heard a sudden loud laugh -- it was Logan.

"Are they always like this?"

"They? Day Class, you mean?"

"Yeah, Day Class."

"I'm afraid they are." I stated, but at least with them acting like this I could deal with. It was normality here at Cross Academy and not what had happened a few days ago.

"And it's better not to change." I added seriously, thinking of what might happen if the existence of vampires was to come out to the public.

Logan only nodded, seeming to understand what I meant to say as he leaned at the near by wall, watching the spectacle with a knowing smirk.

A moment later Storm joined him, taking the place next to him. I couldn't help it, but it made me smile. They looked cute together.

"Yuki?" Someone broke me out of my musing. Zero, I thought and turned around to face him.

"Yes?" I said hesitatingly not sure what this was about.

"They're gone." He stated the obvious, pointing to the empty place, where the Day Class girls had been. Had that been just moments ago? "Class changeover is done."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh." He replied dryly but then frowned suddenly turning his head around. "Yuki…" He muttered.

"That's Katashi…" I replied and trailed off, wondering what he was doing here.

"Yeah, and he's not alone." Zero gestured to point behind the boy.

"That's his brother, but why is he hiding like that?" I wondered aloud but couldn't avert my eyes from the scene, which changed into something else as Katashi realized that his brother was watching him. They spoke words I couldn't understand, too quiet but I could clearly see the anguish on Katashi's face … and nearly gasped when the look on Takeshi's face turned into pure hate.

What was happening?

"You're a what?!!" Takeshi screamed and pushed his brother away from him and stormed off while muttered things under his breath but ignored the pitiful sobs coming from his brother.

Poor Katashi, he really got it bad, I thought then looked questioningly at the two mutants beside me. I couldn't let the poor boy just stay like this now, but why was he here after all? I thought he would avoid class changeover after all what happened but I guess I was wrong.

I wanted to go and comfort him but before I had any chance he ran away. Well, and Zero stopped me from going after him, saying he'll need some time alone.

Zero was probably right too, but … well, I wished I had done something, anything then because a day later Katashi Mori had vanished and no one knew what had really happened.

-

* * *

xxx

* * *

-

It took quite a time to look for him, until we finally found him in Rogue's old room.

"Rogue?" I asked wondering why she allowed the boy to stay here after all what happened before. They hadn't been friends, right?

"It's okay," she replied and smiled shyly towards Katashi, who sat rather still on chair watching something on the other side of the windows. "He apologized ... and besides he's not that bad, actually." She added with a giggle.

"He cannot stay here." I said slowly, but felt bad for saying as soon as it left my lips. The poor boy had lost more than I could ever imagine losing.

"I know." Rogue nodded.

"I'm coming with you." Katashi suddenly said. "You're leaving today, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." Rogue agreed. "Indeed it's time to go home, I think."

"Yes, it is." I heard another voice saying, right behind me. I noticed it as belonging to Logan. "But before we go, I've some business here to finish." He added grimly and nodded to the boy, who still sat there, like he wanted to hide from everything and everyone. "Katashi?"

"Ehem, Logan-sama?" The boy replied timidly.

"Logan, it's just Logan or Logan-san if you want." He snorted in reply but his voice sounded strangely soft for him. "I'd like to talk to your father before we go."

"If we must..."

"Yes, we do." He said and motioned for us to follow him outside. "I think we'll met him at the headmaster's."

* * *

xox

* * *

"Mori," Logan muttered under his breath but I thought it sounded more like a curse than a name. "We've come because of your son, Katashi. He likes to go with us."

"You, what?" Mori-sama just muttered in return, barely giving notice to Logan, which was quite a feet considering the kind of man Logan was.

"Yes, Logan-san likes to ask you if you allow your son to leave with them, for another school in America, right?" The headmaster interrupted, explaining what this was about.

"Katashi as in Katashi Mori? I don't have a son by that name." I heard Mori-sama say to father -- and it made me feel really sorry for Katashi. Poor boy, he didn't deserve this from his own father, but I had sort of expected this from his father. The way he hated mutants, it was only logically for him to react like this if he should found out that his own son was one of them.

"Oh, really?" Logan replied sarcastically but otherwise ignored Mori-sama completely but looked at father. "Then you won't mind if he comes with us, right?"

"What, no, whatever."

"Yes, indeed what ever." Logan scowled annoyed. "You've given up any right on the boy."

Well, two hours after this Rogue, her friends and Katashi left for their plane to leave Cross Academy behind.

-

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xxx

* * *

-

I just stared, watching them approaching this big black plane of theirs. To say that I was impressed was an understatement, really. It was so ... different from anything I had seen before.

"Yuki? Zero?" I then heard Rogue calling out all of a sudden, right before she entered the Blackbird, the personal plane of the X-Men.

"Yes?" I asked slowly, not really knowing what this she was up to.

"Wouldn't it be nice if you two could visit me on holiday?" She asked finally with eyes shining bright with anticipation; I swallowed and noticed how Zero's eyes clouding over. Didn't look like he felt exited about this.

"Um, maybe." I muttered and nodded slowly, not knowing what my adoptive father, headmaster would say to this, besides I had no idea how to get there. "I don't know if we can leave. I've to ask father."

"Oh, okay." She muttered. "It's just that I would be happy to see you guys again."

"Me too." I agreed and suddenly smiled, thinking of something father had said when I showed him the video. I had gotten the idea then, that he might wish me away for a while -- maybe that he and Yagari-sensei could finally do something about those Mori-sama's goons.

* * *

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**Author's note: **

Sorry for the long time it took me to update but I had some serious writer's block under other stuff. Real life is sometimes a real B---. Hope you like this, for I found it harder than I had it imaged to wirte about the X-Men at Cross Academy. I know I could've done more but it's very unlikely that they would've stayed longer than they needed to in this case.

Love,

Mia


	14. Unsteady Hearts

Well, I had this sitting on my harddisk for a while and thought it time to get it out.

Chapter fourteen of Change of Heart

For disclaimer see first chapter.

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**Unsteady Hearts**

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So Rogue had left Cross Academy for good and I really thought that things would turn out for the better, I really did, but unfortunately ... in the end they didn't. Without Rogue out of the picture that left me to think about Zero and Kaname – and how things had changed so much in the last few days, or had it been already so much longer than that?

I could only wonder about that too. When did they become this close, close enough to form a bloodbond of all things. I wasn't that naïve that I wouldn't realize that something must happened between the two of them, something ... rather intimate too. It made me feel shy around them, knowing that my feelings toward both of them hadn't changed, not really.

I still loved them, but I didn't know how to act around them any more – and I was afraid of losing them as well. Yes felt as if I was about to lose them as they had obviously serious feelings for each other too or else there wouldn't be a bloodbond between them. I blushed at that thought, thinking of the things, which would have led to that to happen and suddenly I stopped in mid step – wait, I thought, why had Zero been there at Moon Dorm, together with Kaname then?

Back then I had been surprised, but thought nothing more of it but maybe something the headmaster had asked of them to to – but now? I could easily remember there had been strange aura about them too. How long had Zero been there I wondered then as I hadn't seen him around during breakfast that day.

Days went by, with me thinking, no, it was more like brooding about them – while trying to not to recognize that they seemed to be bound to avoid me, because I still didn't know how to handle this. I had been so sure about them in the past, but that was gone now. To be honest, I was really unsure about them, me and everything else as well so it was nothing to wonder about that days went by with me really living them or realizing how people's view on things changed because I was to troubled with own insecurity then.

I loved Zero – but I hadn't stopped loving Kaname as well, so where did that leave us, me and them? It hurt that they seemed to avoid each other too, seeing as they seemed to be so in love with each other. I know they both tried to hide it but I wasn't that blind, not any more. It showed clearly in their eyes and in the way they acted around each other, even if they acted shyly like now. No, this couldn't go on like this, I told myself, and faced them, cornering them so right before class changeover was about to start.

"I-, Zero ... Kaname..." I began but trailed off, even knowing that I, someone had to act to stop this, because it hurt all of us.

"It's okay Yuki-chan." Kaname said softly and smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. Yes, I knew he knew that it wasn't, not okay, not at all but he tried as best he could, just like Zero, who tried to smile at me too yet failed.

"You ... better go," I said after a deep breath. "You've got class Kaname-senpai and I need to see you at class changeover Zero." Ah, that was far better, feeling happy that I finally managed to get something normal sounding out.

I watched in silence as they left me and went also to get ready for a normal night of prefect duty. Well at least something to set my mind to, I thought then shivered again while remembering that changeover several days ago.

Yeah, so things went finally back to normal but no matter what, the following days were even worse for they seemed to avoid each other; for me? Why? I wasn't blind; I could see this was hurting them both, badly. I didn't understand them -- but it hurt so much to try to think about it any more at the time.

About it, about my loss of the two people, who were dearest to me. I know then, I loved them both -- and it looked like I had lost them both, too.

Everything burned, hurt so much inside, my heart, my soul -- so weary, but there was little I could do. I tried to speak with Zero, but he was even more close-lipped than normally and obviously tried to avoid my company -- and he tried to avoid Kaname-senpai, too.

Well, both things weren't easy to archive, since Zero's and my prefect duties made it so that we had to meet at least once a day during class change. Other than that I saw little of him and to my disappointment Kaname-senpai avoided me too of all things too. Was it so painful to look at me?

"Em, Yuki?"

"Yori?" I replied mildly curious, as Yori had been very quiet and thoughtful since Rogue and her friends had left us.

"The headmaster said to give you this." She smiled softly at me and gave me something, which looked like a letter of sorts.

I took it and opened it, looking curiously at it, wondering what this was about. Oh, it was a letter from Rogue -- with two plane tickets in it. "For me and Zero?" I wondered and then noticed Yori's curious waiting look. "It's from Rogue," I said to her. "It's an invitation to visit her during winter break."

"That's great Yuki." She smiled at me and pulled me into a hug.

"Hmm, I guess it is." I said in return, feeling happy and unhappy at once and I think it showed since Yori stopped smiling than. This was an invitation for both I and Zero and in a way I 'was' exited about it and wished to enjoy this to the fullest, but I couldn't. No, it wasn't that I was sure that I knew my adoptive father would make sure that Zero would come along no matter what he wanted or not. No, that wasn't it as that was just normal and it would make me smile about it. No, what made me feel uneasy was the reason he wanted us to go. Father wanted us out of the way of things, to be safe. I sighed, feeling a little disappointed at this. And there I thought I convinced that I, that we weren't little children any more. Guess, I was wrong at that too.

"Father," I thought, wondering what the heck it was he had really planned that made it necessary for me and Zero to leave like this. I couldn't help feeling a little numb at the thought what he planned to do in our absence here. He'd just spoken about the Association this morning and that he and Yagari-sensei planned to corner them – but that couldn't be that dangerous, right?

Then I pushed that thought away, knowing that I couldn't change father, even if I tried and focused on what this invitation really meant, to leave home for such a place so far away.

America, I thought feeling kind of giddy at that idea, that we should get to see all that. Was Rogue's school really that crazy like the told us? Then I frowned at the thought of facing other , not so friendly mutants, knowing that her friends, the X-Men, had many enemies and wondered if father knew that Rogue's world wasn't less dangerous as ours.

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xox

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Time went by fast and soon came the day for us to leave Cross Academy, too fast thought part of me. It was time to say good by now, only for a short time but all too real at that. So, now we were there, in front of the main building waiting to be picked up for the air port. It was late afternoon but it looked like it was already much later so clouded over was the sky and all – grey.

I'd just said good bye to Yori and now we were approaching Moon Dormitory since none of us could stand to leave without saying good bye to _him_. It turned out that we didn't have to go the whole way after all. No, instead we were interrupted before we arrived there.

"Zero," I heard a voice coming from the side, Kaname. I turned around and then shivered, more feeling than actually seeing Zero's reaction to this. The way his whole aura changed and his eyes lid up when they met the pureblood's. He also seemed unable to break his stare from him. I heard Kaname swallowing, and nodding towards me. "Just a moment, yes?" He pleaded to me.

I nodded slowly, feeling a tinge of sadness rising inside of me, but in the end I gave in and walked away a little bit, giving them a little privacy. What could I've done else? It was obvious that they loved each other; even if they denied it, which was the real riddle to me. So, I watched Zero leaving with Kaname behind the next corner, behind one of the large threes. I guessed that Kaname wanted say his farewell to Zero alone.

It was weird and I knew it wasn't right but I couldn't help but taking a peak at them. Well, I managed to sneak behind another three and watched.

I watched Kaname taking Zero's hand, with an intense look in his dark eyes. Then he pulled Zero closer and I expected for him to hug him tightly, but instead he covered Zero's lips with his own lips. Zero didn't seem to mind either, because he leaned in and deepened the kiss, kissing the pureblood with an intensity, which made me blush fiercely.

Had either boy ever kissed me like that? I wondered sadly because I knew they hadn't and I wasn't even sure that even if they would return my feelings they would ever do that. I wasn't sure about anything, least my feelings. Three was one too many, right?

Right before we left I thought I spotted a blonde head watching us but he was gone just as soon as I had spotted him. Was I now seeing things on top of all this? I shook my head and forced my eyes forward focusing on the headmaster, driving us to the airport.

He really looked strange, so serious ... and he had his hair down I noticed a moment later. It was quite long but that wasn't what got to me then. No, it was the difference in his whole posture and the way he was narrowing his eyes in concentration. I had the faint feeling that I wasn't seeing the headmaster of Cross Academy but the master hunter he had been before he started his carrier there. It should scared me but instead it made me feel safe, safe that all would be fine in the end.

"All okay there?" He asked then with a low chuckle, watching me through the mirror.

"Yes," I said calmly and smiled back. "Now it is." I added in a whisper tone, more to myself than any one else. Yes, indeed, all would be fine.

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xxx

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The flight had been long and not only a little tiring as I never been on a flight this long. Worse, that I failed to sleep on board as I felt a little nauseous as my stomach was acting up and I had to go for the ladies several times that is. Flying long distance was no fun at all even I was still exited about the journey on the whole. Zero was obviously annoyed about me being unable to sleep and showed it clearly. Argh, sometimes he could be such child that I had to wonder who really was the older one of us two. Not, that I couldn't deal with him but it usually annoyed me as well until we ended in an endless loop – until one of us got tired of it.

Just right now, as he watched me with tired looking grey eyes and fixed me with a thoughtful frown followed from a dry chuckle. "And there I thought you were so exited about this." He murmured.

"I was," I murmured back. "I mean I still am Zero. I just didn't thought my stomach wouldn't react this badly to flying." I couldn't help but smile seeing his eyes softening.

"Yuki..."

"What?"

"Come here." He said with another half-smile and then rummaged in his travel bag. "Here, these should help." He added while offering me two tablets.

"Zero?" I frowned for a moment than took a deep breath while realizing what they were. "Are these what I think they are?"

"Yeah, sure. They're against travelling sickness." He smirked. "Here, just take them Yuki. Then I might be able to catch some shut eye."

I took them quickly with few droughts of water a stewardess thankfully brought. "How or where did you get them?"

"The headmaster gave them to me, saying that we might need them." He explained although it was clear to me that he truly meant that I might need them for it was doubtful that vampire might need them. Wa-wait, if he had them all this time why did he wait this long?

"Zero!" I scowled at him. "Why didn't you tell me about them earlier?" I wanted to know.

He scowled back and snorted. "Would you've taken them then?" He asked dryly.

I dropped my gaze, knowing that he was right again. I would refused them then, thinking that I could manage this without need for any medicine.

"I wouldn't." I confessed slowly while nodding my thanks to him. "You know me."

"Yeah, I do." He smirked then leaned back. "Let's hope we'd find some sleep now." He added then froze and his eyes narrowed to small slits as if he had heard or sensed something or someone.

"Zero? What's wrong?" I looked around but could see nothing out of place feeling but couldn't help feeling the sudden uneasiness that may be just maybe someone might be watching us.

He continued to stare into nothing as it seemed then slowly shook his head as if dismissing a thought as unreasonable. "Nothing, Yuki, nothing. Just sleep." He said in a tired voice and leaned back again as if trying to get some sleep.

"You should sleep Yuki." He murmured then right before he fell asleep.

How did he this, I wondered then shrugged and tried to follow his example, slightly less successful but at least I got some rest in the end.

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xox

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A wee hour later the flight ended and we were picked up for Xavier's Institute, thankfully by Rogue and Storm or Ororo as she wanted us to call her, which felt strange of course.

Rogue looked really good, at least as far I could tell. She was back to the cheerful girl I had known from the first time we met, yet there was knowledge in her eyes, a maturity which hadn't been there before. She really had grown up and was now a full fledged member of the X-Men, that's the name of her friends group she finally told us since we already knew way to many secrets on both sides.

Then we were there and we were both still for a while – because this was not what we had expected to find. No, when she told me about a whole school for mutants I had thought about something ... something more fancy and not something this ordinary; well, as ordinary a private boarding school could be. Rogue had been right, I thought. This was really a lot like the Academy back home – yet, it was different in many little details.

Being at Xavier's institute … that was really a weird experience. It was so unlike Cross Academy, even if I had thought at first how alike it was. Yes, there were things very alike in some ways. For once, they students were all so different and some seemed to have a hard time getting along with each other, just like home.

But the professor, Rogue and her friends talked so lovingly was ... something different and downright baffling. It wasn't certainly not this I had expected.

He was friendly – and scary, all at once. Sure, he looked pretty normal but that wasn't it for his aura. Power, that was the only word for this, invisible power beneath his calm and friendly surface. I shivered at that, not knowing how to react to this nor that I could feel his power at all. I was just a normal girl, right? I shouldn't be able to feel things this clearly – but I did.

"Don't be afraid." I heard a voice in my head then and realized that it was his. "You're more than welcome here." He added softly and motioned for us to take seat on the two chairs in front of his office desk. The professor was a middle aged man, who emitted a calm yet powerful aura, much like velvet hiding steel, but somehow, I felt that we could trust him.

"There something to be afraid of?" Zero narrowed his eyes, fixing the professor with a near-glare.

"Of course not." Professor Xavier smiled brightly then became serious and added. "Not here. I would be a fool saying there weren't any dangers around --" He raised his brows in a questioning gesture towards Zero. "and you wouldn't believe if I would tell you this, would you?"

"No." Zero nodded then smirked dryly. "No, of course not, Professor. I wouldn't."

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xox

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Life at the mansion was different as it was so less formal than back home but we caught up slowly but surely. The place was a lot smaller than the Academy back home but then there were fewer students as well. No Night Class of course, no as far as I got all the students were mutants ... which made us, me and Zero, the only none-mutants here. To say that they were curious was a understatement, especially for Zero I think. Just how many of them knew what he really was or at least suspected something?

It was nearly impossible to hide something with people like these, who had more sensible senses, at least a great many of them had, than among normal humans I suppose.

In a way it was almost like a real holiday, with next to no real worries, but one, Zero's mood, which seemed to get worse the longer we stayed. I sighed, seeing that far away look on his face. He had come along, mostly because for my sake I guess, he'd said that he couldn't let me came here all alone -- and Kaname-senpai had ushered him to go too.

Well, he tried to hide that look, but I knew him too well. I knew he missed him, Kaname-senpai, I think, but he didn't want to talk about it. It hurt, that look of guilt and pain on his face, he wore every time the subject of his and Kaname's relationship came up. Zero couldn't look at me.

It hurt, badly.

And then there was that blue furred doctor, Hank McCoy and his twice darned curiosity. I sighed. He was very friendly and turned out to be rather normal guy after our first shock ceased, but I think I've never met someone which such a curious mind; well, besides my adoptive father that was. He really wanted to get his hands on Zero, or more so some blood of his, so he could investigate it closer. Well, I guess it must be really mind-baffling to someone like him, to realize that vampires were real.

In the end the Professor had to rescue him from Zero's wrath and despite that I knew that the that gun worked only on vampires I couldn't help that thinking that Zero looked almost scary glaring like that, pointing his Bloody Rose at the good doctor. Well, McCoy-san asked for it, for he'd have to be blind to not seeing the signs of anger in Zero.

Yet, he did not see it or choose to ignore them. Even then, I tried to tell him that poking Zero with a needle like that wasn't going to make him happy, but he didn't listen. Oh, okay, I had to give it to him in a way McCoy-san wasn't completely wrong in his thinking and he had only the best of Zero in mind but – well, you know how he is.

Well, and that was how it started. One moment he was towering over Zero trying to get him to agree to this and the next he was being shoved against the wall with a very annoyed Zero pointing his gun at him. If it weren't so serious I would've laughed outright. Hell, I almost did too.

"You wouldn't ... shoot me with that?" He asked in a surprised tone, so surprised that I wondered how he could stay so calm in this situation.

"Try me." Zero grumbled and narrowed his eyes to intensify his glare at the Doctor.

McCoy-san then sighed in defeat then smiled. "It wouldn't do much good to you." He added in the same calm voice. "I've been informed that that gun works only on vampires and – I'm certainly anything but one of those."

Um, I fidgeted with my shirt then stared at the Doctor like he just gained a second head. Didn't he knew that that didn't mean anything to Zero? It wasn't that he really needed the gun to cause some serious trouble, I thought, remembering what he did to father's furniture and office.

"It did." Zero replied dryly in a dangerously soft voice. "I replaced the bullets with normal ones."

"Um, you don't really want to kill me, do you?" He murmured in return.

"No, I don't, but only if you stop harassing me ... with those needles!" He growled and pointed with his other hand towards McCoy-san's medical tools on the other side of the room.

"Okay."

"What!!?"

"I said okay." The Doctor said with a broad grin on his blue furred face. He looked almost amused, as if he faced situations like this on a daily base. "I won't bothering you with this any more."

Zero stayed silent, unyielding but his eyes had taken a distant look, almost like he was remembering something. I could tell by the way the Doctor's face that he had strengthened his hold on him.

"Zero!" I called, trying to get him distracted but he continued to glare at McCoy-san as if he distrusted him. Nothing, so I decided to takes matters in my own hand or hands in this case and moved between them so he had to face me as well.

"Yuki," Zero said, sounding distracted now. "Yuki, I don't trust him."

"Zero," I said and took a deep breath, steadying myself. "Zero, he's our friend's friend ... and we can trust him."

"He's a scientist." Zero replied his hands suddenly shaking.

"Scientist," I repeated, feeling a sudden chill at Zero's tone and the sudden stark horror I could see in his eyes. Why was this bothering him so strongly? "What's wrong?" I asked aloud and watched him with an queasy feeling in my gut.

Thankfully we were rescued by Professor Xavier then. I still don't know what he did to Zero but he visibly calmed down enough to take back his gun to its holster and then let go of McCoy-san.

"Zero?"

"I'm all right Yuki." He nodded but still looked a little pale and then surprised me again by apologizing for his outburst. "I don't know what overcame me there. I-I don't have anything against scientists in general." He shivered and pulled his shirt closer to him.

"Um, Zero, have you really changed them to normal ones?" I asked in an almost inaudible voice.

"Yeah, I did." He nodded seriously. "But not all of them." He added with a grin.

"What!?"

"Well, I can't be sure that there wouldn't be any vampires here, now can I?" He explained with raised brows.

"No, of course." I agreed then frowned. "But if you didn't replace all of them how could you be sure that the gun would work if you need it?"

"No, of course I can't. I'd just to find out." He agreed as calmly as ever then smirked knowingly. "But they hurt for sure."

"Oh," I muttered knowing that he was indeed right. While normal bullets wouldn't kill any vampires they still hurt. I nodded. "You've mixed them up, haven't you?"

"Yeah." He agreed and I almost thought I heard him snigger then, but pushed that thought quickly away. Zero didn't snigger. He glared and, may be, growled, scowled and even smirked but never sniggered, right?

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_Well, I hope you like this. _

Mia


	15. Surfacing

Chapter Fifteen of Change of Heart

For Disclaimer see Chapter one.

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_Sorry if this chapter might be confusing but I really wanted to continue and finally finish this story soon. There will be only one more chapter to go. _

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**Surfacing**

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After this everything was fine, almost like Zero and I were on vacation – only, it didn't stay that way. Things got more chaotic when we found Aido-senpai, hiding in one of the spare rooms. He had to have followed us somehow, although I'm still unsure how he managed that feat, but the more important question was of why and not how.

At first I thought he had been envious of the adventure we two were allowed to go, but that didn't quite fit as well. Kaname wouldn't have allowed it and even Aido wouldn't go against his pureblood's wishes.

No, I suppose he got sent after us to have an eye on us both, I think, which I can understand. America is far away after all and even a pureblood vampire cannot just hop from one country to the other in a just a few seconds.

Whatever the reason we really hadn't expected this, and I suppose Zero was rather unhappy with it as well. He's not used to be watched on, like Kaname-senpai did on me for all the years I've known him. It was bad enough that he threatened Aido with his Bloody Rose at first and it took a lot of pleading from me and the blonde noble to calm Zero down.

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xox

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"He sent you here?!!" Zero shouted while his face seemed to twist between absolute fury and a puzzled look which meant that he was touched that the pureblood obviously worried so much about us to send Aido after us to make sure we're safe.

I had expected for the noble to fidget at the brunt of Zero's anger but instead he simply nodded, taking it like he had expected it. Well, may he had, for he should expect for Zero to react like this. Well, may be a little more strongly I observed. Zero was being soft with Aido.

"Look Kiryu-kun, Zero, I 'm sure that Kaname-sama knows that you're able to take care of yourself and her but he really is worried about you." The young noble sighed at the stubborn look on Zero's face, surely knowing that there wasn't much he could do when Zero was like this. "Kaname-sama hardly slept since you two have been gone." He added softly.

"I think he'd been having nightmares about your well-being." Aido explained in a serious voice then sighed.

"Nightmares?" Zero repeated, nearly whispering at that too and frowned. "Why?" He looked with a confused look in his eyes at the blonde noble. Aido's words had at last an effect on him.

"I don't know, really, but it surely must've been something serious or else he wouldn't send me after you two knowing that you wouldn't be happy about it." Aido really didn't seem to know anything more about the Kaname's reasons as far as I could tell and I sighed.

"Zero, he's right." I said as calmly as I could. "I only wished he would've told you more about the reason why he really sent you here."

"So do I, so do I, Yuki." Aido muttered in return and sat down on the nearby couch looking utterly exhausted for first time since he arrived here.

"We've got to tell the Professor, Yuki." Zero went for the door but stopped in mid step because said door was already being opened to reveal Storm and Logan-san.

"The Professor already knows, Zero." Storm said with a wry grin. It was obvious that she was quite amused by this incident while Logan-san looked really annoyed, but that did have to mean much as he always seemed to be that way; pretty much as Zero used to be, I added silently.

"Ah, but he still wants to hear it directly from you bub." Logan added with a even more satisfied looking expression, which started to look even more smug when he noticed the reaction Aido showed at being called _bub _or more the lack of a reaction, because the noble only gazed back with a slightly dazed look.

I didn't know what happened then but I think the Professor some how talked to Aido, just like he talked to me in the beginning, mind to mind, as his eyes seemed to look vacant all of a sudden.

"He wants for me to stay." I heard him say in a strange voice. "I – I cannot believe it." He muttered to himself. "But he said that I was also to go to school with you here." Aido sounded really unsure then, but I guess it must be strange experience for him since I'm pretty sure that Kaname only commanded him to watch about us and nothing else. "They others do know about what I am ... what Kiryu-kun are?" He muttered.

"Yup, they do." Logan chuckled. "You can stop your playboy attitude. It won't work here."

"Oh, okay." Aido just nodded with a strange look on his face, somewhere between relief and disappointment. It was almost like he didn't know if he should like this or not. "Well, that means also no crazy Day Class girls." I heard him mutter to himself with something that sounded suspiciously like relief.

"How's Marie?" He asked suddenly, almost as if remembering his cover-story, yes, I think that was what he meant to use, but I'm not completely sure about that. "I hope she's okay."

"Rogue's fine." Storm said with a wide grin then turning to me. "But I believe she wants to tell you that by herself." I blinked for I was taken a bit by surprise at the cheer mischief in her blue eyes. What was she up to? I looked from Storm to Aido and back and bit back a fit of laughter. Was that tall x-woman about to set them up? No, I thought, Ororo-san had to know that it won't work, not with Aido-senpai's noble background. I didn't think they would accept anyone for her son but another noble vampire for a serious love-interest.

In other words, it was impossible to work out ... but so was the idea of pureblood being bounded to someone like Zero, a Level D class vampire, impossible yet it had happened so maybe nothing was really impossible, which was indeed both wonderful as it was frightening in its essence.

After things were finally settled we spend some rather interesting days together – and we even really did train with the X-Men, even if they held back for us, well, at least for me I think but I wasn't completely sure. This Logan-san, he's a strange one too and I don't know if he even knows what that means, holding back. He didn't seem to have changed from our last meeting, but couldn't be sure for he was a really closed off character and all.

Rogue seemed to be more balanced as well, which I was really glad about it. Then there was Storm or Ororo-san as I sometimes called her when I forgot that she wanted to be called without the honorific; she seemed to have really changed a lot. I wondered briefly what had happened that she was dressing like a punk in black leather and all, but there was more. There was something feral about her now, like something waiting just beneath the surface – and I knew Zero felt it too, as well as did Aido, but it was not our business to interfere with so we let it be.

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xox

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So things felt kinda like vacation me – and I thought things would stay that way, but I was wrong again, because next day there were visitors in the institute's dining room.

"How did you get here?" I asked shocked to see two men I had never seen here before. How did they get here, I wondered for all I knew this place was far better secured than Cross Academy could ever hope to be. Well, but then we didn't have to expect invaders every now and then.

"I have my way, Miss ... ?" The older one replied in a very polite and polished voice, which clashed almost violently with his looks.

"Yuki Cross," I replied – more calmly than I truly felt. I still wasn't used to these strange situations.

"Cross ..." He replied with a frown then nodded. "I was impolite, I'm sorry. My name is --"

He was interrupted before he could introduce himself and his companion to me because right then Storm opened the door and almost run directly into the younger one of them.

"Scott!!" Storm called out and stared at the young man with bright shining eyes. She looked like someone, who'd just seen a ghost.

"Ororo," the young man said in a quiet voice. He was also staring at her in a very similar fashion.

"You're alive..." She breathed out and her eyes went back to blue.

"Yes, it seems so." He acknowledged softly but couldn't hide that he had obviously mixed feelings about something.

"I'm glad," she said in return then froze realizing that he hadn't come alone.

"You!" She glared at an older man in the back of the room, who had observed them quietly until now. "Magneto." She hissed in a low and dangerous soft voice.

"I thought I return him to you." The old man said with a dry chuckle in his voice. He looked like he spent most of his time on the sea as fisher at that I noted while taking in his clothes and weathered skin. Yes, he looked like a fisher but his voice sounded too educated at that so he hadn't been that his whole life I thought. Then I watched him straighten himself and turn to the door. "Charles," he added quietly.

"Erik." I heard the Professor saying in return. He sounded almost breathless and for the first moment since I met him I thought he was unsure about the outcome of this. Who was this 'Erik'? I wondered.

"It's all right old friend. I've come in peace," he continued with a sad smile. "I've no longing for war – any more." He stood up and made gesture and for a moment the ring floated in his had but fell down quickly leaving him looking even older. "I lost more than I ever imagined, Charles ... and I have no intention to lose even more."

"You killed the Professor." Storm cut in, her voice dripping with ice and I could feel electricity gathering around her. She was anything but happy about this.

"But I am here." Charles Xavier replied in all too calm voice but I could hear in his worry in his voice. He feared that Storm would act without thinking I thought. Who was this old man that Storm would face him with so much venom, so much anger?

"You've been lucky." Storm clutched her knuckles and suddenly Logan reached out for her, holding her twitching hand in his own. "Yes, he is." He agreed, looking from the Professor to this Erik with a look I couldn't quite decipher. "And so we were all." He looked haunted and weary but it was clear that he didn't trust this 'Erik' at all.

"Wolverine, no, Logan," Erik began than shook his head in a sad motion. "I really have no intention to hurt any of you, again." The last word had been more a whisper but it was clearly audible.

"You better not." Logan scowled then blinked and stopped whatever he wanted to say. "Scooter, good to see ya." He said then frowned, looking at young man with a strange look. What was wrong? Scott, he looked perfectly to my eyes. A young man with strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes.

"What happened to your eyes?" Logan blurted out, staring straightforward at the young man. There was nothing unusual about him so far I could see.

"They're fine." The younger man glared back then sighed in something, which sounded like defeat to me. "It's gone, Logan. I'm just like everybody else now, normal." He explained.

"Normal?" Logan raised a brow then shook his head. "You'll never be normal Scooter."

"Trust me I am." He muttered back. "I'm ... not a mutant anymore."

"Oh, okay. Welcome back." Logan gave him a pat on the back then and grinned.

"Yes, it's good to be home." I heard the younger man murmur then holding the glance of the older one, Erik. "Thanks for bringing me here." There was a strange warmth in his voice and it was mirrored the older man's voice when he said something which sounded like 'It's all right.' or something. They looked like two people, which had been lost and found themselves back when they met.

Yet, I was sure that I could never really understand the depth behind this all, for I felt there was more, but it was terrible private.

I heard a sigh then, from behind, and turned around to see the Professor smile a bright smile. "So it's true then, Erik." He said. "You've really changed."

"Yes, I think, I may have." He agreed with a nod then shook his head. "But I don't belong here, Charles. I'll better return now." His eyes started to get a far away look, like he was remembering something.

"To the sea?"

"Aye." He grinned for the first time now. It was followed by a dry chuckle. "Who would have thought I end up there, but it's strange. I'm happy where I am, being what I am now."

At that I left for I really felt like I was intruding – they sounded like like old friends, old friends in need of catching up. So I left and decided to look for Zero and the others.

-

* * *

xox

* * *

-

"That, that bastard is here?!!" I heard Rogue yell when I found her, Zero, Aido with several of the other students in front of one of the classrooms. I shivered for a moment seeing her so enraged and I really wanted to comfort her because I could also feel her pain clearly. Yet, I knew not how to change ... anything nor did I know what had caused it and why.

"What had happened?" I heard me asking instead, which was just common sense to ask in such a case.

"Have you ever wondered how I got 'this', Yuki?!" She fidgeted with her white streak of hair. "He did that to me, stealing my powers ... that blasted coward of his so he could use me for that damned machine..."

"Rogue..." Bobby interrupted, trying to calm her down but failing to do that.

"No, let me. I need ta get this outta me." She grimaced painfully but continued talking in an almost eerie calm tone compared to her former outburst. "I ain't needin' babysittin'!"

"I didn't meant to..." Bobby muttered in return then looked down like he didn't want to meet her gaze. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you're sorry, you're always sorry." Rogue muttered sarcastically then calmed herself a bit and swallowed and started anew.

Her story made me silent, not knowing that to say or do that could made it better so I did the only think I could do: I listened. I listened and couldn't help but starting to wonder how that old man I had seen up there could be the same man she told me about. That man looked broken and weathered. Someone, who had accepted his fate and wanted only peace.

"I don't understand this." Aido said and shook his head. "From what you told me he had witnessed what that kind of war did to his people – and still he did cause the same thing to others."

"Maybe it was the trauma, of loss." I said and found myself caught up with Zero's glance. He looked haunted as well. People coming back from death, I realized that it must be rather trying for him, with what happened to his family. In a way we were similar yet very different in that part. He at least remembered his past even I thought often that he might've been better of not to.

"People keep repeating the past." I heard another voice joining in and recognized it as Ororo's voice. She sounded much more calmer now, I thought, then a few hours back when she'd seen that man, this Erik. She then sighed after taking in the quite mood around us.

"But it's not so much because we forget, but because we tend not to forgive." She added thoughtfully.

I nodded, thinking that there much truth to these words. "So it's important to do both, forgive and remember."

"No, Yuki, we should not forget," She smiled then frowned. "but learn of our mistakes so we might be able to forgive ... or things will never end."

"Sounds logical." I muttered and my glance went from her to Rogue and then to Zero. Yes, it was the hardest thing to do both things. I shivered, realizing what it really meant – or may be things were not as bad I thought at all? "But it's hard to do, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, Yuki." She nodded. "But the consequences are even worse if we don't."

-

* * *

xox

* * *

-

After this I don't remember much of that discussion, only that it went on and on until my head hurt with all that confusing information of things I hardly knew anything about.

It was bad, but the next day was even worse because there was that woman, who seemingly returned from the dead.

Impossible I know, but they said that this woman, Jean Grey, came back like that, thus surprising all of them, most of all Logan-san. I'm not sure, but I think he had to kill her and it must be hard to face her again after that.

That day started out completely fine with sunshine and good natured banter as well, so I think I was even more surprised how it ended.

"So, you're controlling ice?" Kitty said while giving Aido a curious but also wary look. Well, she knew what he was since already too many here knew about our secret there wasn't much use in trying to hide it too. Not that that mattered for nobody would say anything out of here anyway, because they really knew how important it was to hide something like this from humans – because they wouldn't understand and if they should believe they would only react with fear and hate at that.

"Yes, I do." Aido said with a grin then his smile went even wider. "And so do you I have heard, am I right?" He said to the boy standing next to her, recognizing him as Bobby, Rogue's ex-boyfriend, I think, but I wasn't really sure for she didn't talk about him. Hmm, this was bound to get interesting I thought knowing Aido's way of dealing with people. I could only hope that nobody won't be getting seriously hurt because of this.

Then there was a sudden uneasy silence with Aido and Bobby staring at each other until the latter give up under the noble's cool gaze. "Thanks, Bobby," I thought knowing that things would've probably badly otherwise. While Bobby or aka Iceman might be controlling ice, he was still human in a way and very easily affected by all these extras which made vampires so dangerous.

"Um, how about we go and grab some ice to eat then?" Kitty exclaimed with a glance in the round her eyes only once wavering when they met Rogue's glance.

"Sounds nice, Kitty-san," I said and nodded. "Don't you think?" I asked Zero and Aido simply to annoy them knowing that 'they' were bound to follow me.

"Sure, it does." Aido nodded with a grin and a raised brow towards Zero.

"Okay." Zero said but sounded like he would rather not come along but accepted it for some reason I didn't know.

Well, we really did there, went to eat some very yummy ice. I really was exited about that then, to get to taste what American ice would taste like. Yes, we really had fun but I couldn't help but realize the way Rogue was flirting with Aido. She, she did know what he was, right? I mean beside from being a vampire, he really deserved his playboy image at that.

"But I do like ice cream." He stated with a chuckle out of nowhere.

"What?" I muttered and stared at him. Had he guessed my thoughts?

"You know, I can do better than that." The noble grinned playfully and made innocent gesture. "Idol-senpai isn't all I am." He said then thoughtfully. "I hope so."

"Oh, okay. I do like ice cream as well," I agreed with teasing glance at Zero next to me, who made a face at the mention of ice cream. I was more than aware of that he didn't exactly like ice cream – and he wasn't having any too. He'd chosen some cappuccino, I noticed, instead, without sugar no less.

I took a look outside and noticed that it was already starting to get dark. I frowned again, noticing that something was very wrong, for I realized that it wasn't getting dark because of it was late. No, there were some serious dark clouds out there. It looked like a thunderstorm was about to come soon.

I felt uneasy at that sight. "Better we return now." I muttered to no one in particular.

"Yes, you're right. We should hurry." Rogue agreed after seeing what I just had seen. "Let's hope that's a natural one." She added in a whisper tone. "She had been in a darned bad mood today." I saw Rogue shivering at that and felt confused. Why, what was going on?

"What's wrong?" I asked aloud.

"Nothin' I'd like sweetie." She snorted then pulled me up and motioned for us to follow her. "Come on, we gotta hurry."

She practically pushed us into the car we had left outside and then took the driver's seat herself. It was a bit crowded there now in the car, now, that we beyond easy going and in a hell of a hurry. But there was some good in it too, for it brought me closer to Zero there. I felt his stormy gaze on me but we still didn't know on how to talk about that – so we kept quiet. But my heart leapt a little then, when I felt him take my hand in his own.

Then we were out of the car ... and tossed into a raging storm, inside and outside.

"How dare you ... coming back like this and then taking his side!" Storms voice yelled, loud enough to hear over the torrents of rain outside now; I thought I heard thunder rumbling outside but I wasn't sure. I couldn't help but be shocked, because she had seemed so calm and controlled just a day ago – and now she was raging mad for reasons I couldn't understand. Did she not say something about forgiving and understanding? I thought she really had forgiven them whatever it was that needed to be forgiven.

"Storm," Scott swallowed looking helplessly at the angry woman before him. "He really has changed. Erik isn't like that any more."

"How?" She muttered then stopped herself in whatever she had wanted to say, just giving him a undefinable look. "You really believe this, don't you, Scott?"

"Yes, I do, because it's the truth – don't you see?"

"No, I'm sorry, I can't. I can't see that." She shook her head in refusal. "He's just weathered down and lost most of his abilities and that's why he is more docile. What if he regains his powers, Scott?" She asked him in grave voice. "Do you think he wouldn't go back to his old ways?"

"Yes," Scott muttered then licked his lips as if he was nervous. "Maybe, I, we just gotta hope. Hope, isn't that all what we ever had?"

Oh, that was much better, I thought with relief only spin around a moment later. Some one was laughing, but it was not a pleasant laugh.

"You shouldn't believe a word he says, Mr. Summers." A regal looking woman said in a taunting voice. "He's a liar, you know." The woman, who looked like a native American to me, snorted in disgust and I thought I could see her eyes change for the fracture of a moment or so. No, that had to be trick to my eyes, yet I couldn't help but think that there was more to her than what could be seen.

"What?" Scott asked while staring at the newcomer then he frowned which turned finally into a glare. "Mystique." He scowled very uncharacteristically. "What do you want?"

"Hmm, what do I want?" She purred then smiled brightly. The smile made me shiver despite its brightness. It was not a friendly smile at all.

"I tell you what I want, Scotty-boy." She crept closer until she stood directly in front of him, almost close enough to touch him. "I want my life back. I want revenge."

At that she straightened her posture. "He's an ass hole, a traitor of the worst, Scott. Don't trust him." Her voice had tuned down to a whisper I could barely understand at that point, but I could see clearly that it had some kind effect on him. His gaze had become unfocused.

Then she turned around to face the others, and chuckled. "Hmm, what would they think of the company you've been keeping for the last year, hmm?"

"What!? That's no business of yours,Mystique!" Scott practically growled at her. He was furious, although I had no idea what this was all about.

"I don't think so, Scotty-boy. I think Mrs. Scott Summers is very much their business as well." She replied with another chuckle and then somehow disappeared, no, that was more because of the chaos her words caused then that she could leave with anyone noticing and all. Well, I didn't understand what this all was about. I mean, the man just came back from the death so how could the idea that he was married cause such uproar?

"Zero?" I asked, trying to get his attention among all this shouting and arguing around us. I doubted we could do anything about this wanted to get only away from this madness. Yes, I know I probably should've tried to help but I really didn't know how.

"Yes?" He nodded, sounding quite pained as well.

"Let's go," I said, nodding to the house e.g. meaning for us to leave for our rooms since we obviously could do nothing about this matter.

After a moment Zero agreed quietly with a nod and we went back to the house.

-

* * *

xxx

* * *

-

I really thought that everything would be better the next morning, after everybody has calmed down and all. Well, usually things are better then, but this time I was wrong.

Breakfast was ... very uncomfortable to say the least, with everybody staying silent to avoid more arguments like yesterday, not that this was much better. It went only worse from there later in class, with most of our classmates whispering and talking but hardly paid any attention what our teacher said and all. They weren't happy, about it but strangely there wasn't any detention here, just more homework.

"I don't understand this." I heard me murmur, while getting a glimpse of Scott and Ororo, arguing again. Shouldn't she be happy that her friend was still alive?

"It's complicated," Rogue said and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know all of it, but the thing is that he was engaged to Jean, Ororo's friend and now he's ... engaged to another woman, who looks exactly like Jean. But that isn't it. It's because we can't be exactly angry about this, because she was the one who fished him out of the lake."

"So, they're angry that about him not honouring his previous fiancée's memory?"

"Yeah, that's sums it pretty much up, besides that his new fiancée looks exactly like a copy of his old one. She really does." Rogue replied. "I've seen the picture he carries around with him. It's ... really creepy."

"Couldn't she be related?" Zero put in, trying for the most obvious explanation. "I mean, like a sister or cousin or something?"

"Nah, I don't think so. She's not from the States."

"I don't get this." I repeated and looked then at Zero for support. "People don't have doppelgängers like this nor do they return from death in a row... and if they do, their friends should be happy about their return, shouldn't they?"

"Yuki?" Zero asked quietly then pulled me closer to him, hugging me to comfort me and thus surprising me again.

"I'm okay, Zero." I replied, trying to convince both him and myself, but my voice sounded too shaken, even to my own ears then. "I'm really am." I added.

"Sure." He grumbled and tightened his hold on me. "You know it's okay to freak from time to time, Yuki."

"Yuki?" Rogue asked slowly. Her voice sounded somewhat strained as well. "It's not exactly as it looks you know. As far as we know none of them had been actually dead and the woman isn't Jean at all. She only looks like her."

"Ah know – but it happens ..." She added.

"I suppose," I answered slowly," but that's not what troubles me, not really."

"Then what is it?"

"I don't like friends suddenly hating each other." I finally admitted. It somehow hit too close to home, and I rather not wanted my friends to hate each other suddenly.

"What has he done that you're, I mean, especially Storm-san, is so angry with him?" I managed to ask in a much calmer voice than I felt, and I think it would've been even worse if not for Zero's calm presence behind me. He was strangely emotional too, the way he slightly squeezed my shoulder to comfort me. I guess it was silly to be so upset about something like this but I just couldn't help it. Maybe, it was because father's need for peace did have actually seeped into myself, just maybe.

"Yuki," Rogue said then sighed, pausing to fish for what to say. "It's complicated I think. I'm not sure what exactly it is. Ah joined only some years ago, so I don't know everything about Scott and Ororo other than that they've been close."

"She hates him for marrying this woman or for not coming back faster?" I murmured, unsure what to say to her. It wasn't like I really understood them at all, for all that we were friends their world was very different from the one I've known so far.

"I'm not sure. Things have been tough here for a while." Rogue muttered in a quiet voice. It sounded like she was in pain but didn't want to show it.

"I'm sorry." It slipped from my tongue, just like that, but I felt suddenly guilty to have asked about at all. Most people would've said that it was nothing or that it didn't matter but not so Rogue, she just said nothing, nodding slightly before starting to reach out to me. She stopped in mid motion so I reached out instead, pulling her into a hug without another word.

-

* * *

xxx

* * *

-

Yeah, so things calmed down a bit but it felt too much like a false dawn to me, not with all the bad things that had already happened. I know that might sound kind of over-dramatically but it's how I felt then even if I tried to fight the gloomy feeling.

Maybe I shouldn't have because than I would've been more alert so things would've turned out better, may not, but this place, America, the US, it was very different to what Zero and I were used to. Aido didn't seem to be affected somehow, but that might be because he had been here before I think. He said something about a vacation some years ago or so.

It was really nice for a change you know, nice to have fun and just enjoy things, things like watching a film and going out eating ice cream and other delicious things, like dancing. I couldn't help but blush at the latter because I actually got Zero to dance with me. It was so strange at that that I failed to come up with anything coherent to say to him but it must have been obvious how surprised I've been then.

Then something different, happened, something neither of us had expected, not with the way everything felt like an vacation, well, at least without the previous family drama I guess.

-

* * *

xox

* * *

-

After that day, things noticeable calmed down, which I was glad about it. It was a first for both of us, of course and it felt more than a little strange.

Yet, I guess that was why it time seemed to flow much faster when we were there and then, then we were back at home, almost like in the blink of a eye compared to when we left home. Still, I'm sure that the flight home was took as long as the other one did. Well, there was the difference of being not alone, watching Aido and Zero bickering was kind of amusing to say the least of it.

Well, I had almost forgotten about my other problem. The one, where I felt left out one moment and insecure the next following with loneliness afterwards. I-I thought I had come to terms with them – and how I felt about them, but seems I was wrong.

It hurt still as much as it had before, maybe more. It hurt to see them hurting themselves, keeping to themselves at that. Trying to avoid them was useless as I found out previous to that

so I just had to endure and hope, maybe hope for a wonder.

Wonder, like that what happened to Rogue now. Yes, there was surely hope. Thinking about that strange conversation of last night, when the Professor had come to talk to us.

"_Zero Kiryu?" The Professor had asked in a very serious voice. It was almost time for our flight back home, but that time hadn't come yet, so what did he want now from us?_

"_Professor." He nodded in return, but gave me side glance at that._

"_You're wondering why I am here, right?" He then asked with a slight chuckle._

"_You could say that." Zero replied dryly._

"_I wanted to speak with you about Rogue, what happened when she touched you."_

"_I'm fine." Zero retorted rudely, but it was clear for me that he didn't want to talk about it._

"_I'm sure you are." Professor Xavier smiled in return then nodded. "But what I wanted to talk about was the effect you had on Rogue."_

"_Effect?" Zero said._

"_Yes, effect. You two already know what her mutant abilities are, right?"_

_We both nodded in return._

"_Well, she wasn't able to control them before she touched you."_

So that very night did have some good things as an outcome for Rogue even with all the bad things that happened to her. Yes, I thought, there might be hope for things to turn for the better.

-

* * *

-

_Hope you like this even if it's a bit confusing... _

_Mia_


	16. Hearts, torn apart

_Final Chapter of Change of Heart, for Disclaimer see first Chapter._

**Hearts, torn apart**

* * *

I suppose we were faster back than I ever expected us to be, because it had felt like such a long time on our first flight. Of course, it hadn't been in reality. Maybe it was because we had such a lot of fun on our flight back that it felt short or maybe it was because I hadn't felt so good on the first flight.

I really don't know, but from that point on things looked somewhat more cheery, brighter for me even I didn't really know why at that point, but maybe it was because I caught Zero smile at me when he thought I wasn't looking at him.

And then there was Aido-senpai, joining us on the plane this time instead of hiding his presence. He was really nice company if he wanted to be, pretty much like when we had been out with Rogue and her friends, joking around, smiling and having a good time.

Yes, the flight home was kind of fun, because neither Aido nor Zero were starting a fight this time; kind of eerie but nice to have a little bit of peace for once. Aido had brought some apple-pie along, surprising us by offering it to us during the flight.

It tasted really good, but it certainly wasn't anything I'd expected him to come up with since he's hardly the kind of guy to do such things like baking a cake.

"She's a friend," he said then, reacting to our questioning gazes. "Really, I like her." He sounded serious as well, with none of his usual mischief in his eyes, although I thought he sounded a little wistful at those words.

"Hey, it's not like there's any real chance for us there, you know?" Aido exclaimed with wide gesture of his arms, then turned to give Zero a serious look. "Unlike you and Kaname-sama this isn't easy for me … " He sounded bitter at that, which made take a closer look at him. I couldn't make out any reason why he should feel that way if what he said was true. I didn't doubt his words, but I couldn't help feeling like there was more to it than just that.

"Aido, it's not like that," Zero said, shaking his head, but still mostly calm without any hints of the intense anger I knew he would usually show if someone dared to speak about something he deemed private. "This is anything but easy, for both of us."

Zero's eyes were dark with emotion, but that was all that showed how troubled he must've been about this. He seemed almost too calm at that, a calm I supposed meant that he had accepted whatever happened was out of his control and couldn't be changed in any way. Although, it seemed that this calm, which almost bothered on being cold, made Aido uncomfortable enough to realize that he had done something wrong right now.

"I know; I'm sorry." Aido nodded, but not meeting Zero's gaze. "I shouldn't have said that."

A nod was all that showed that Zero had acknowledged the noble's apology – and afterwards followed a rather uneasy silence for several minutes. It was broken by Aido again. He looked at us then smiling broadly, but there was nothing mean about this smile. No, he suddenly looked very happy.

"What?" I thought, feeling confused about it and it must have shown on my face, cause the noble nodded in return and his smile turned into a happy grin.

"You know, Kaname-sama's going to be very happy to have you both back." He said softly.

"Is he?" I asked, feeling unable to hide the uneasiness I felt ever since I knew about him and Zero's bond.

"Oh, of course!" The noble exclaimed then laughed. "You're silly to think otherwise, you know." He nodded to himself then frowned. "I really don't understand you two," he added, looking from me to Zero and back. "You're the two most precious people to him. You should be happy and not moping around."

I just stared back and so did Zero as it seemed that neither of us could really deny what Aido had just said, but it didn't make the doubts go away either. I suppose that's why we couldn't say anything –

It was no surprising that the remaining flight went pretty much silent, with none of us speaking much.

* * *

Yes, it was silent, but it wasn't a bad thing altogether, because it made reconsider things, which in turn made me think that there might be still hope yet. Really, it was almost cute with the way Zero was trying to avoid looking my way but blushed a little when our eyes met by accident.

So, yes, I guess there was indeed hope for us to solve this mess. Maybe it was not impossible to love two people at once – and that I was okay with sharing them, simply because of that. I think it had been kind of stupid thinking that I had to chose one of them. My only problem now was that I didn't knew how to approach them about this, telling them that they didn't have to act like they did then. If Aido was right, we've been all very stupid about the whole thing after all while things could've been so much easier for all of us.

I wished I could simply tell them that I loved them both and that I was okay, no more than okay, that they loved each other as well. Too bad that I became nervous whenever I thought about this and in turn I hesitated acting on what I knew had to be done somehow. It was so unlike my usual self, but I couldn't help it, couldn't help worrying.

What if things were not as I thought and they didn't feel like I thought they did?

That was not very logical, but it didn't matter. Not like a normal girl like me could have any future with pureblood vampire like Kaname Kuran, but neither could've Zero, a Level D vampire and vampire hunter as well.

Well, I guess love doesn't have to make sense and there was nothing either of us could do.

Just right now, while both Zero and I were back at our functions as Guardians during class changeover, I tried not to show how frustrated I felt about the whole situation.

Ever since we were back they were exchanging secret glimpses during class changeover and whenever they were in the same room but that's all they ever did, ignoring each other otherwise. I could easily see that they longed for each other, but choose to do nothing about it, and I couldn't help wondering if I was the reason for this.

* * *

Things went on and on just like that, with Zero and Kaname trying to ignore each other and me on top of that. It didn't work very well, though, for I think almost everyone could feel the tension between the two of them. I think even some of those Day Class girls noticed it, which spoke a lot how bad things really were. No, nobody dared to say anything about it, seeing as how short-tempered both were nor was in the nature of any of the nobles to ask Kaname questions of any kind that were personal matters to the pureblood.

Really, after a while, it was just too much, enough that I wished I could just take them and toss their heads together so frustrating it was to deal with all of this. Didn't they realize that I cared for both of them deeply? If any, I wanted them both to be happy, but it was just no use, for they just didn't talk to me any more. Worse, any-time I wanted to talk to either of them they found some excuse to avoid talking to me.

I guess I wasn't the only one, who became frustrated with the whole situation, but they didn't do anything against it. Well, that was what I thought, until Takuma-senpai stopped me to speak with me on one one of those days, right after class changeover was finished.

His eyed me seriously for a moment with some emotion that was far too serious, who used to be always so cheerful like no one else from Night Class.

"Yuki-san," he said slowly,"you have to do something. This can't continue as it is." He sounded very worried at that as well.

"I did try," I said than shook my head in defeat, which was so not like me at all, but I really didn't know what to do anymore. "Believe me, I really did, but they try everything they can to avoid me."

"They're both very stubborn." He nodded, then sighed in what could be only frustration. "There has to be something we could do." It sounded strange to see him like this, so out of character, for it wasn't like him, not being in control of the situation, like usual.

I nodded then looked down, not knowing what to do for once. "I know." I admitted, not meeting his eyes, for fearing he'd see how weak I'd became. Really, I didn't recognize me anymore. Cursing inwardly at that, at what a fool I was, I then decided it had to stop.

"I will talk with them." I said finally, almost inaudible, because I still had no clue on how to work the magic needed to make them see reason, cause I don't think I've ever seen two people more stubborn than Zero and Kaname. Well, maybe Father was worse sometimes, but that didn't count … not really.

I looked up and smiled, because he looked like his usual self again – which made me think that this would be all it would take to set things right: just a few words … which wasn't difficult at all, was it?

* * *

So, I was so dead-set on get them to talk – and see that everything was all right with us three – and followed them after class changeover the other night. Only, to freeze in mid-step, wondering what I stumbled into here. I had been so sure that this was a good moment to get them to talk about it, but now, I wasn't so sure about that.

No, worse, I couldn't stop staring at them, watching them like some kind of peeping tom, which was so very wrong, but I couldn't help myself. Each one of them alone was very more than handsome, but this … was hot. There wasn't any other word for what I saw, Zero and Kaname all over each other … caught up into an heated make-out session.

I blushed furiously at that and trouble breathing normally, because of what I saw then. Were they about to do _that_ with each other? I shivered while watching them losing one clothing after another. I really felt felt embarrassed about watching now, but I couldn't move, nor could I look away.

My heart felt like I was surely getting a stroke any moment, because of the sheer intensity I say.

I thought things would continue this way and all, but it didn't happen. Had they noticed me, I wondered, but if they had wouldn't they turn around to me?

Well, whatever, they stopped touching, even kissing to start talking in a hushed, almost pained way … like they thought that what they did was wrong, that they didn't deserve this what they so clearly wanted.

I gasped when I heard them voice my name … and then shivered when they said that they both loved me, but also couldn't deny what they felt for each other.

* * *

-

"Um," I muttered finally and both jerked around, finally noticing me. "I've heard you." I said, almost too quiet that I wasn't sure they heard me, even with their vampire-hearing.

"You have what?" They replied in unison, looking completely puzzled at that moment.

"I've heard you saying it, that you love me." There I had it out finally. I raised an eyebrow, daring them to deny it, which they did thankfully not.

"It's okay, cause," I whispered. "I love you, too – both of you." I said again and then, I did something that surprised even me: I slapped them, first Zero then Kaname.

"What's this for?" Kaname asked with a curious look, rubbing his cheek, where I had hit him before.

"Fore being such … idiots!" I said, "It's for making me go through all this, such fools..." I trailed off then pulled his face down for a kiss. "It's because I love you, both."

I guess I will never forget the look on their faces: surprise, shock - and finally happiness, which made me burst with warmth.

Next I knew they had pulled me between them, hugging me like there was no tomorrow. The hugs then were more or less replaced with kisses, warm and sloppy at first – a bit confusing but feeling way too good to think about it any further. I was too happy at that moment, happy that we would manage this somehow, we three together.

Of course, it ended sooner or later with them leading me back to my room, which was all right, because I now knew everything was right again – and stay that way.

* * *

Well, things had been wonderful since that night and I really thought they would continue to stay that way for once, but once again I was wrong about that, cause I hadn't thought that the Association would make further trouble back then. As far as father had said they had taken care of the problem that had caused the incident with Rogue but I guess not all of them agreed with that.

Only because she was was back in the US, they hadn't forgotten what happened, unlike Day Class had, which was good of course, but I think it was something that had them troubled as well. I guess it was because they knew that Night Class played along to make them forget to calm things down.

Not that there had been any other option, because Day Class students had seen more than they should have and I believe Kaname made an afford to make them forget the 'additionally' things about that evening.

So, yes, they didn't remember that incident, but I couldn't help notice that some Day Class students were starting to behave differently after a while since Zero and I were back. They were a lot shyer around class change and began to exchange strange looks with each other. I noticed that Aido wasn't happy about this at all. He seemed to miss his fan-girls dearly, oh, yes, of course, but that was just Aido being Aido-senpai.

Later then I noticed that some of the day class girls were also giving Zero stares, like he was something abnormal and were whispering to each other when Zero didn't look in their direction. They stopped of course, when he noticed it and gave them his usual glare. Then they stopped and moved quickly out of his range, if they could.

Yes, I really hoped that things would work out right, but I guess they didn't exactly because it ended all in blood but it stared out as a normal day in class, normal until it was almost over for that day.

That was until the teacher asked Zero and I come to the headmaster's office and all, which we then did, although I had a strange feeling of foreboding about this somehow. I mean there wasn't any reason for father to call us out of class under normal circumstances, right?

Guess I should be right, but I surely hadn't expected that of all things, cause when we arrived at father's office he wasn't alone. Master Yagari was standing behind him, leaning on the wall. He wore a very serious expression, too, which couldn't mean anything good.

"Headmaster?" I asked, because I was sure that this was something official, but not sure what it was about.

"Ah, Yuki-chan and Zero-kun, good that you're here." He nodded then motioned us to come closer and sit down on the chairs in front of his desk. We did so, well, that was I did, but Zero refused to sit down, like usual and just came closer to stand behind me. I'm sure he was frowning at the headmaster, too, but I knew he was uncomfortable even if he tried to hide it.

"What is this about?" I managed to get out next, looking curiously around, thinking that I might find anything out of the usual – which I did. There in the corner behind father's desk, was an school uniform, a Night Class uniform.

"Zero-kun," he said next," I'm afraid you've to leave Day Class soon." He then nodded towards Master Yagari in silent communication. "As you might know, we had some recent dispute with the Hunter's Association. I believed things had calmed down, but unfortunately they are not as calm as we would like them."

"Ehem." Yagari interrupted. "Fact is that the Association now knows about your changed status as an whole, and they're wondering if you did drink Shizuka Hio's blood after all, because that's the only reason they can come up with that would explain it."

"I don't understand." Zero said in a strangely calm voice. "How ... why is this necessary now?" Indeed, his question was quite valid, cause with the change the recent events brought to him it was practically impossible for him to fall to level E, so why now the change of heart? "Now, that there is no danger of me falling to Level E?"

"It's because they see you as a vampire now, a full vampire and want us to act accordingly." Master Yagari explained. "Zero, please note that we don't have a choice in this matter. It's either you changing classes or the existence of the whole Academy is in danger of getting closed, because we don't follow the rules in this."

"I see," Zero said, looking down at that, "but I don't have to like it, now?"

"No, I suppose not."

"Do-do I have to change now?" He asked slowly, eyes still set on the floor.

"No, I guess we still have a little time for you to prepare, besides the half-year is very close at it's end so I think we can wait until then." The master hunter said then turned around to the headmaster, giving him a questioning look. "We can wait until then, can we?"

"Oh, of course we can!" The headmaster replied with a smile, looking a bit relieved at that as well.

* * *

After this things went on pretty normal at first, but they were just a false sense of peace, unfortunately. It started pretty harmless with others changing in the way the treated Zero; ignoring him like he didn't exist for most of the time – and when they didn't do that they talked. It was gossip, I suppose.

The day it happened was like any other day too, a day of school life – and like so often Zero and I managed to snooze off in class again - and got detention from the same teacher, who liked to put chains around the doorknobs to keep us in.

Usually, they didn't stop us from getting out, as Zero was so much stronger than any human was but not today. The door didn't bulge and the chain didn't give in, so we had to leave the room through the window in the end. It took us marginally longer than using the door, but it was enough.

Well, after that incident I expected trouble at class changeover, but everything went smoothly until Night Class was almost over for today.

The next thing, I doubt I'm ever going to forget, no I can't forget it, that scene. There had been so much blood; Zero was covered by it but most of it had not been his.

"Lifelines," I realized, "one of them was Lily … and the others were me and Kaname?" Lifelines, we were his lifelines, and one had been severed then. I clearly remember that night.

I had been patrolling as usually when I heard suddenly gunshots.

Gunshots, they were coming from the stables. "Hunters, it had to be hunters," I thought and hurried further along, hoping to prevent the worst.

"Zero," I thought, knowing that he would be there like many a night before.

I starting running and my heart seemed to burst in my chest, so fast it was beating, and beat faster with every second it took me to reach the stables.

I shivered with fear, "Zero, please don't let me be too late…"

I couldn't breathe. I had to go to him, reach him in time.

"Oh, please let it not be too late." I prayed.

I froze, realizing that the noise had stopped, which meant that I was late. Was I already too late?

There was blood, a lot of blood and there were bodies too. I felt dread tearing at my insides, because it stunk of blood. No, there was more than that, I thought and shivered at the sudden dread crawling up my spine then. The darkness was ... overwhelming and seemingly coming from everywhere.

What had led into this? What happened that the stable looked like a battlefield, not that I knew how one of these really looked but it was the closest thing. There was a body, one of these hunters around Mori-sama I noticed, but I didn't knew what exactly caused his dead. His head looked like being hit with something hard and heavy – like being hit by a hoof.

And over there, not far away was White Lily, even in death she bared her teeth in defiance. I realized that the dead hunter might have fallen victim to her vicious hooves. She obviously died fighting, just as she lived.

I shivered. White Lily, she couldn't be dead, yet she was.

White Lily was dead – but what about Zero? He must be crazy with grief – and then I realized where the feeling of anger, of rage, came from.

It was nobody else but him, who stood there on the other side.

Zero, he was almost hovering above the third man, the only one still alive. I gasped; it was Mori-sama and there, next to him, were the other two hunters, who had followed him, dead, laying still on the stable floor.

There was a strange glint in Zero's eyes and his smile seemed far too soft, but it held too much teeth in it. His fangs were fully aroused and his eyes had taken an unholy hue of red that was, indeed, frightening. Zeros was watching the man in front of him intensely and I thought he looked like a true predator then. Just like a wolf, and it was looking out of his eyes. His gaze was just like that, a wolf gazing at its prey.

"Prey," I thought and felt even more terrified. There was nothing human in his gaze. Was it already too late, had he fallen to Level E? I thought that was now impossible yet, the expression in his gaze wasn't that kind of crazy, which I had seen in the few crazy vampires I'd seen before. It wasn't the madness, which came with the craving for blood.

No, that wasn't it, but it was not human, not human at all and it reminded me strangely of that woman, Shizuka Hio. For the first time since I knew about his true nature I was afraid, afraid of him or was I afraid for him? Yes, that was it. I had been so close to losing him, but didn't back then, so I didn't want to lose him now, not like this. I couldn't let this go on; he couldn't continue like this. Zero, he was going to kill that man. I felt it in my veins; I just knew.

I ushered towards then stopped, realizing that we were no longer alone here.

There was someone else, standing closer to Zero than I. Kaname, it was Kaname, I realized. What was he going to do? I still couldn't move. I felt like frozen in time, I wished not being able to see what was happening, but I couldn't, couldn't look away. I could only hope that he would be able to help Zero.

"Please, Kaname, help him!" I prayed, barely audible to my own ears.

"Zero," I heard him say. His voice sounded so soft, strangely soft - and sad. "You don't really want this, do you?"

Zero didn't answer his question, but he stopped his movements. He just stood there, just like a statue - an inanimate object.

"Do you want to become like her?" Kaname pushed further, his voice now a purr. "Do you, Zero? Do you want to be like her, like Shizuka Hio? She said you two were alike. I didn't believe her then, but now… Now I'm not so sure any more."

"I'm not Shizuka." Zero objected, but his voice was shaky as if he knew the truth but didn't want to see.

"Yet, you act like her. Vengeance, Zero, is it really worth it?" He sounded taunting, arrogant but I could tell there was a strong undercurrent of something I could only decipher as love mingled with desperation. The strength of the feeling made me shiver, because I hadn't realized how strongly Kaname had to feel about Zero to sound this … desperate, but then I had never thought the two of them would end up in a blood bond, being lovers. I felt an inappropriate heat at that thought and fought down, together with memories of them and moonlight, of happy times. I wished that time back, desperately, yet, I knew that was foolish to wish for.

"No," Zero whispered and finally nodded. I could tell he was giving in, yet his gaze clung to the man on the floor. His eyes were still cold, despite the blood red hue they were showing.

"Let go, let go of your hate," Kaname whispered intensely and Zero's body tightened with an inner fight, it had to be.

"I can't," Zero replied hoarsely. "I can't Kaname." Zero convulsed then and whispered. "cause … there's nothing… left.."

"Zero, look at me." It was a direct order and even I could feel his pureblood power behind that one – and more than even that, his heart.

At first I thought it wouldn't work but then Zero complied and turned slowly around to face Kaname, staring into his crimson eyes.

"What do you see?" The pureblood asked softly, holding Zero with his gaze.

"Kaname…" Zero began but trailed out, not knowing what to say.

Kaname stared at Zero for a long while then nodded and moved closer to Zero. He murmured something into Zero's ear, I couldn't quite understand but ''reason' and ''kill'.

I shivered. "What was Kaname suggesting to Zero?" I shivered once more as I saw Zero nodding to Kaname after this.

"Zero, come …" Kaname pulled Zero away from Mori-sama but gave an icy glance towards the old hunter. "I do this not for you." He said in a dangerous soft voice. "but I'll save you for now…" He trailed off, his hand reaching out for Zero and coming bloodied back. He shot a worried look to Zero.

"You've been shot." Kaname whispered, his body becoming frigid, his eyes glinting steely. "Many times." The pureblood shook with pain not his own, his hand clutching Zero's shoulders at that, almost like needing some proof that Zero was still there.

"They dared to do this to you." The pureblood visibly shook with anger now, enough that I thought the room had gotten darker at that and the shadows seemed to closing in. It was nought that I hugged myself, trying to fight off the sudden cold that seemed to haunt the stables.

Zero just grunted between gritted teeth, it was obvious he was still in pain. "It doesn't matter."

"It does to me." Kaname replied, pulling Zero along with him, closer to where Mori-sama was still cowering on the ground. "We've got to do something about this." He turned around, giving Mori-sama a soft smile.

"I'm sorry but we'll be needing something from you before you can leave." He said and I could see Mori-sama tremble with fright but he couldn't move for some reason; was Kaname holding him there? He was a pureblood after all and he could do things like this. Was he really doing this? I trembled at that and needed to reach for the closest wall for support.

"No," I thought and shook my head. This wasn't what it seemed, couldn't be ... yet what could it be else?

Kaname pulled Zero closer to him and moved to the still trembling Mori-sama.

"Here," Kaname said to Zero and offered him Mori-sama's wrist. "Drink"

At this I trembled enough, that fell to my knees. What was Kaname doing and Zero, he wasn't accepting this … this cruel gift, was he?

No, I muttered in panic, he shouldn't ... he couldn't do this. It was not right. Damn, I had to do something now. I couldn't let this go on like this, go this way. I tried to move but realized that I somehow couldn't move. I was frozen into place.

So all I could do was watch, watch as Zero stared from Kaname to the offered ... gift, yes, I suppose it was some kind of gift. There was a strange energy between them now, almost sexual I realized with another shock, but the most shocking fact was that this was romantic in a way, seen from a vampire's view – the offering of a meal to his mate. It was so sick to view them as just that, but vampires did prey upon humans, did they not?

It was something I had almost forgotten, after living with them day by day, knowing that they didn't do that, but used those blood tablets instead.

But it was what they were, and then there was the point, that the hunter has caused Zero pain, intense pain in both body and heart – and Kaname's intent would be to make this pain go away, to ease it, so Zero could heal, even when it seemed a very twisted idea to do it like this.

I knew Zero must be very thirsty, being shot like this – and I could see the trembles going through his body while he observed the offered wrist. Then I saw him reaching out with a trembling hand, pulling the wrist closer to him.

Damn, he was going to do it.

Yes, Zero was. He took the offered wrist ever so slowly, still fixing the hunter with a glare, and placed it finally in front of his lips, almost close enough to sink his fangs in. Yet, he hesitated, staring at the wrist in front of him before finally gave in; almost painfully slowly sinking in his fangs into the shivering hunter's flesh. I could see the sheer panic in the hunter eyes but was strangely drawn to this image, morbidly fascinated.

Next I knew I blanked out and everything turned black around me.

* * *

I awoke in Kaname's room, with them both facing me with worry etched into their faces. They smiled a little bit when they saw that I was awake, but they still looked worried – which had me thinking back of what I saw in the stables.

"Zero?" I asked. "Is everything all right? Mori-sama, is he ..."

Zero shook his head, then swallowed. "He's alive, Yuki. Don't worry."

"That's good, isn't it?" I eyed them carefully, unable to shake the feeling that not was well at all. Zero just looked at me with an strange look for a far too long time, until he shook his head then nodded with a deep sigh.

"Yeah, you could say that, Yuki." His voice sounded rough, shaken with defeat. "I was really happy with you both, you know?" He continued only to look down a moment later, almost like he thought the floor would give him answers on how to act that moment.

"We cannot see us anymore, neither me nor Kaname." He said next, sadness dripping from his voice, but his eyes were that steely hue, which said that he was serious in what he was saying.

"What!" I argued, feeling shaken by this explanation, which wasn't really anything of one either. It caused only more questions in return. Why couldn't I see anyone of them and all? It made no sense to me, not after all this time.

"It's too dangerous for you, Yuki – and I don't want anything to happen to you … or Kaname." He shook my shoulders, staring into my eyes with sheer worry.

"Please, Yuki, you have to understand, if anyone of the Association finds out about our connection and yours with Kaname, you'll be in real trouble."

"My connection … with Kaname?" I whispered and frowned, not knowing what he exactly meant with this. "There's no special connection, other that I love him, just like I do love you, Zero!"

"Kaname?" Zero asked in response, looking back to where Kaname was watching us from the other side of the room. "I think it's time you tell her the truth, you know?" He continued slowly.

Kaname nodded in response, walking up to us to finally sat down on the corner of the bed I was lying in.

"Kaname?" I asked. "What's going on?"

"Yuki, I'm sorry," he began, "but Zero is right, it's time for the truth, knowing it'd be the only thing for you to understand why things have to be as they are."

"The truth?"

"Yes, the truth, about your lost memories, Yuki." He said then took a deep breath as if preparing for something difficult to say. "I'm afraid things are not as they are seem to between us."

I just frowned at that, waiting for him to continue.

"Yuki, I'm your brother." He said next, which was probably the last thing I expected him to say then – because it didn't make any sense at all. I mean he was a pureblood vampire and I just a normal human – so how could I be his sister?

"This … this can't be r-right..." I was all I managed to say in response, stuttering very much at that, too. "

"I'm afraid it is. It is possible for a pureblood to become mostly human. It's rare and dangerous practise but in this way it's what happened to you." He said calmly, with an pretty innocent expression, that really didn't fit to the extend this thing was going to influence our lives. "You're my beloved sister and that's why you have to understand that I need you to be safe, Yuki. Please understand."

"But, Kaname, that means that … this is wrong..." I managed to force back tears that wanted to come out, cause I had to be strong and all. "Our love … Kaname, how could you? Make me believe into it … and now you're telling me you're my brother, my brother..." I couldn't help but hug myself, rocking back and for a little because I just needed something to hold on with this feeling like I was losing the ground beneath my feet.

I'm sure I would've fallen too, if it weren't for Zero, who interrupted my thoughts then. He leaned closer to me, taking my hand in an un-Zero-like fashion, too.

"Yuki," he said,"it's not like you think it is. Things are different for pureblood vampire's like Kaname. He didn't really think that you would react like this." He nodded at that, almost as if berating himself how to go about this issue.

"Different? How?" I eyed him curiously, wondering suddenly how much he really knew – which seemed to be a lot after all.

"Yuki, it's quite common for pureblood siblings to marry." He explained softly then sighed in resignation or something similar. "There's no such thing as incest for pureblood, you know, at least not with the same terrible consequences that it has for humans."

I think I must have stared off into space for quite a time cause both Zero and Kaname looked really worried when I finally managed to respond, which wasn't really much in truth but I really didn't know what to make of all of this.

"Okay, not that it matters anyway in the end," I said, thinking about what had this all started, of both Zero and Kaname keeping their distance from me. "You're going away..."

"For now, Yuki," Kaname said and shook his head, "but that doesn't mean that it is forever or finally. We're going to find a way to make this work, but right now … it's simply too dangerous for you to be close to us."

"You really think you're going to find something?"

"Yes, believe we will find a way to be together, we all tree together." Kaname said with a certainty in his voice I didn't quite felt but I wished he would be right and this would turn out well in the end.

What next came was again a bit blurry, because of the intensity of it – but I remember clearly hugging and getting hugged by both of them; holding on to them for a very long time, even the whole night I believe.

The day had to end, of course, like anything else, and end it did, far sooner than I liked it to, because it left me like this, mostly cut off from both Zero and Kaname. Worse, there was nothing I could do about it for now, but hope that things would turn out well in the end.

But there was hope, always hope.

* * *

_Hope you like it._

_._

_Mia_


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